The Missing Princess
by Moneyface-x
Summary: When a 3 million jewel quest came into Fairytail requesting for two mages to search for a princess, the entire guild pretty much went crazy. So what happens when Lucy and Natsu both get chosen by Makarov to complete the mysterious quest? Is their Princess really missing, or is there danger lurking ahead? NaLu and some Gruvia! Gruvia Chapters: 5,8,11 Mystery/Suspense/Romance/Humour
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So, I wrote this story a year ago and it has been rotting in my laptop for a year now. So, I decided to post it since my thumb drive is full of stories that obviously needed more space than this. I hope you enjoy it and immerse yourself in the awesomeness that is FAIRYTAIL. **

**Disclaimer: This is my first Fanfiction, so there may be things I need to improve on. Don't hesitate to comment and point out my mistakes. Plus, I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, I would be able to earn enough money to buy myself an alpaca.**

**Chapter 1.**

Cana shifted in her chair uncomfortably, the anxiety on her was too much to handle as her heart felt quite perturbed.

On the brown wooden table was a stack of cards and three of the main cards were laid neatly in the middle of the table.

The ladies of Fairy tail were all gathered around her, as the men weren't here in the guild; they have gone somewhere to complete a challenge.

Cana flipped opened the last card, expecting a fine result.

"Oooh! Busted!" Everyone around the table shouted, leaving the poor card mage rubbing her ear irritably, frustrated at them and also at the result, but being optimistic was the only way out now.

"Everyone calm down." Cana picked up the last card that she had flipped open awhile ago "Have you guys even learnt tarot reading?"

Silence.

The card had a picture of a unicycle and a moon, no one else knew about tarot cards in the guild other than Cana.

"This is the symbol of 'gone'. It may not be the best answer but this can also be a sign that there wouldn't be any winner." The card magic mage explained.

"So there's no winner for this challenge?" Levy McGarden chimed in, the solid script mage looked up from her book she had been so immersed in.

Cana nodded, turning away from the others to tidy up the cards from the table, "Or maybe, the 'winner' isn't the winner at all. It's quite bizarre actually."

The girls gave each other questioning looks.

"Five more minutes, everyone." Mirajane warned the ladies who had gathered around the card magic user a minute ago.

"I hate surprises." Evergreen huffed, infuriated with the white haired bartender who didn't want to reveal the secret of the challenge.

All the ladies were over-excited, It was a 'challenge for Fairy tail' as what Master Makarov calls it, an important yet easy mission was sent a few days ago from a city named Heron, the reward was insane, three million jewels! Who wouldn't want that special offer? But, only a pair was requested and Master wanted to choose wisely.

A guy and a girl will be sent to Heron next week to complete the mission. The guys were all put in a test of 'Strength', who no one knows what it is about, whom to fight and how to win. It's obviously redundant, master should've just picked Gildarts and Erza, two of the strongest mages from each gender and get it over with.

"Can't you just tell us already, Mira-nee?" Lisanna pleaded with her bigger sister, she had been whining about it since an hour ago.

"We'll just wait and see." Mirajane smiled at the youngest take-over mage.

The women of Fairy tail were bothered about the outcome for the strength challenge and all of them had decided to seek help from Cana, but really, they were pretty much curious about the winner of the men challenge rather than being much more worried about their own 'ladies challenge', which Master has yet to tell them, but thinking about using tarot cards to predict the winner of the strength challenge was more to the act of folly than idling around waiting for the announcement, curiosity had killed the cat a long time ago.

"Gray-sama would definitely be the winner!" Juvia remarked, her face full of confidence, she can be so fanatical sometimes.

Mirajane eyed her sternly, for she didn't want anxiety to engulf her worrisome mind, all she had in her head was whether her brother, Elfman was safe. He had promised to go with Lisanna to Heron if he wins the challenge.

"Gray-sama! I will do my best for the ladies challenge so that we can go to Heron together!" The former element four member squealed, cupping her hands around her crimson cheeks.

"Now, now. We can't foretell it like that." Mirajane sat on the bar stool, and started to clean a wine glass.

"I wonder what kind of challenge we'll be having, if master's going to choose a girl representative, choose a fairy like me!" Evergreen flew up to the ceiling of the guild, showing off her perfect wings.

"I wonder if it would be another strength challenge..." Erza, clad in her usual armour claimed, instantaneously freezing everyone in place, their eyes wide with fear, they wouldn't be able to win against someone as scary and ruthless as Erza.

They would be so damned and get knocked out by her in a second. The scarlet-haired requipper looked at the other members, their faces filled with fear. She knows that he's already here, she smirked, glancing at the guild's door where the stout old man will soon appear.

"Ladies." Master Makarov voice boomed across the guild's tiny hall, everyone had their eyes concentrating on the small and stubby figure at the door of the guild.

The stocky man made his way to one of the round wooden tables of the guild, climbing on top of a bar table that could represent a stage, he had no choice, the guild wasn't that big as compared to the Fairy tail building seven years ago that was thrice as big as the one now.

"Two days ago." The old master cleared his throat before continuing, "The men went on to Fairy tail's sacred land, Tenrou Island, to complete their strength challenge."

The women smiled at each other, not forgetting that their curiousness are still lingering in their minds, everyone can't wait to ask who the winner of the strength challenge is.

"Who is it?" Juvia asked impatiently but Mirajane shot her a look, implying her not to interrupt when master is talking, The water magician could not seem to fight the urge to ask "Who's the winner?" or "What kind of test are the girls going to have?"

Mirajane sighed, she didn't have the power to control Juvia, who was even curious than anyone in the room right now.

Master smiled and turned to Juvia, The water magician's face turned bright red, embarrassed that she had ask so many questions at one go, afraid that the mages of Fairy tail would not like her for that annoying curiosity bubbling inside her mind that she had just blurted out every single question existing in her head a second ago.

"Juvia, the winner will be kept confidential until announcing day next week." Master smiled at her before turning to face the crowd of Fairy tail women, and he might have been enjoying the view too...

"Where are all the guys now?" Bisca questioned, hoisting her daughter up her shoulders, and then cupping her mouth, the sharpshooter went crimson, probably really worried about her husband, Alzack.

"Don't worry, Bisca. They are all on their way home." The old man laughed, Bisca sighed, relieved and was glad that she got her answer.

The guild went silent for a brief moment, realising that the Master's smiling face had turned to a stern face.

"And this is the announcement you have all been waiting for..." Master Makarov paused "The ladies of Fairy tail will be tested on something very much different than the men's." He stopped, nodding at Mirajane,"Intelligence." He finally revealed.

Erza face fell, turning blue, this wasn't the test she had expected a while ago, and she had already gotten ready, scaring the other girls with "I think it's a strength challenge." comment.

Looking around the tiny guild, she saw some mages groaning at the thought of their intelligence, some of them high-fiving each other, glad that they would not be going against Titania's brick and metallic armour.

This was definitely not Erza's day, she'll be saying good bye to her one and a half million jewel reward, the requipper sighed, worried about every little things. She would definitely win if it comes to strength. Her face turned grim, baring a putrid green colour. That was what she gets for over thinking, "Definitely not my day." She thought.

On the table sat the solid script mage, her face filled with delight, an intelligence test! How interesting! She was pretty confident about this, not to mention she loves reading books, but also for a bookworm to be tested on their intelligence is definitely interesting, there are smart people and some simple minded ones in this guild, no doubt she still have to try her best for this challenge, that is if she wants half of the reward.

Levy scanned the room, only to notice the blond Lucy Heartfilia standing amongst the crowd of female mages. Levy wheezed her way into the crowd, poking Lucy playfully in the arm.

"Lu-chan! Why are you so quiet today?" Levy gave her a bright smile.

Lucy sighed "I'm so glad that Master doesn't test the girls on strength! I've been so worried about myself getting knocked down by Erza!"

"Excuse me?" The blue-faced requipper, turned to the celestial mage as soon as she heard her name.

"N...Nothing!" Lucy squeaked, now isn't the time to make her mad, Erza is on one of her worst moods, because being blue in the face is so not 'Erza Scarlet' behaviour.

"Quiet!" Master Makarov, silence the crowd of squealing female mages, chatting up with each other. The old man eyed the wall clock that hung at the top of the guild's walls, waiting for the noise level to dispense before speaking again.

He nodded towards Mirajane, who was carrying a stack of papers for obvious reasons. The crowd had quieted down completely vexed about the test as well as the mission if they would actually be the lucky ones.

"The intelligence test will be on paper." The white-haired bartender explained, "Do as many questions as you can for the next half an hour, anyone caught cheating will be disqualified."

The highest scorer wins the challenge." She nodded, impressed with her own explanation. "I would not be participating, but I hope all of you will do your best if you want the three million Jewels reward." She finished.

Master Makarov raised his hand, including another rule that Mirajane had yet to explain to the crowd. "No types of magic are allowed, once caught, you'll be disqualified immediately on the spot."

Everyone groaned.

- - - - - - - 2 Days later - - - - - - -

It has been two days since the intelligence challenge. Surprisingly, no one in the guild had even talked about it after that day, not even Juvia or Erza, they are the ones who are over-excited about the challenge and its results.

Both Freed and Lucy slouched on the bar counter, supposedly to have their usual chat with MiraJane. Romeo, Wendy, Charles and Happy were sitting on the round table, playing with an insect that seemed to catch their interest that nobody knows how.

"Natsu! Get lost!" Gray shouted at the fire dragon slayer, before launching an ice make attack at Natsu who had mocked him one way or the other, probably fighting about Gray's underwear and Gray being a pervert... Nothing interesting, it was their usual brawl.

"It's already been two days!" The celestial mage at the counter sighed impatiently. Freed managed to keep his sleepy eyes open, Mirajane smiled placing a glass of wine on the table for him, he nodded, whispering a sincere 'thanks' before drinking.

"When exactly will master pick the winner?" Lucy continued to complain, looking up at the white haired bartender who is concentrating on wiping the wine glasses. "I mean, shouldn't the results be out today?"

"I supposed so." Mirajane winked at the impatient blond. Bickslow pulled Freed away, holding up a quest flyer to seek permission from Mirajane. "Have a safe trip!" She told the two raijinsyuu members, as they departed the guild for their quest.

"Why can't they wait for the three million jewels quest results to be announced? They might be one of the winners." Lucy glanced at the both of them.

"They must've been tired of waiting..." Mirajane polished the wine glass for the millionth time, totally not bothered by anything right now.

"That's it. I'm not going to wait too." Lucy plucked a quest flyer from the quest board. "Natsu! Happy! Let's go!" She spouted at the two of them, but it doesn't seem like they had heard her.

The crystal ball at the end of the counter glowed luminously, implying that someone had called, everyone was occupied with what they seemed to be doing and no one noticed the glowing crystal ball. Eventually, Mirajane went to pick up the call.

"Master?" She greeted, of course, Master always call to check on the guild.

"Mira," The voice from the crystal ball whispered softly, so softly that the bartender had to lean closely to listen.

"Master?" She guessed from the tone of the voice. "Master, is that you?" She asked, confirming the caller.

"Yes, this is Makarov. I need to speak to Lucy, can you relay the message to her that she drops by to my office right now?" The voice faded, disappearing completely, and Mirajane turned to face the blond mage.

"Lucy." Mirajane whispered.

The celestial mage was occupied, trying to stick the quest flyer back up onto the board. Once she had done that, she turned around to face Mirajane.

"Master wants to see you." The Bartender whispered, finishing what she had to say.

**A/N: Hoped you like it! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: So, I have seven chapters of this story saved in my thumb drive and I am pretty satisfied with how this is going. I hope all of you will like it! Please send me feedback and comments, I will really appreciate them. Note that my command of vocabulary isn't very good last year, when I was fifteen and I know that the chapters are a lil' short. So please bare with me, I will work on longer chapters next time. Love ya! **

**Chapter 2.**

Lucy Heartfilia staggered along the narrow pathway leading to Master Makarov's office. She felt drunk yet sober. A lot of things had been going round and round her mind, had she been chosen?

No, it can't be, the timing is off, if she was chosen, Master would had made up his mind right after the competition, but why had he only made the decision now?

Likewise, Master had made it clear that he would be announcing the winners in public, not tell them confidentially and keeping it a secret from the other members of the guild.

Had she done something to betray the guild? The celestial mage thought for a long time, completely forgetting about where she was going.

"Keep calm." She breathed, smoothing out her skirt before stopping right outside the door of the Master of Fairy tail.

"Master, this is Lucy. May I come in?" The blonde took hold of the brass knocker, which the sculptor had carefully carved an intricate shape of a lion's face. She gave three consecutive knocks and played with her fingers nervously, waiting for Master's permission to enter his room that he had so secretly told her to drop by to.

"Ah, Lucy come on in." Came the voice from the room.

Lucy turned the knob, stepping in quietly into the sweet scented room, a slight scent of alcohol wafted in the air as she took another step further. The little old man had his back turned to her, looking outside the window.

The celestial mage halted defensively, waiting for Master to speak.

"I'm sure that you're wondering why I called you in." He began.

Lucy continued playing with her fingers, her heart thumping disturbingly in her chest.

The old man whirled to face her, a stern look lingering in his eyes, and finally opening his mouth to reveal an important message for her.

"Lucy, I'm going to have to trust you with this extremely important mission." He paused abruptly before continuing again "Even though you hadn't been in the guild as long as most of them, but I believe that you wouldn't do anything to harm Fairy tail."

"Master!" The celestial mage couldn't stop her from panicking, if master had trusted her with something this important, she would really want to know how she had suddenly become one of Fairy tail's most trusted mages.

"How…Why…?" She hesitated unsure of what to say. "How can trust me on such an important mission? I'm the most useless in a fight, I would definitely screw up!"

"Ah…" The old master replied calmly. "That. You can leave the fighting to Natsu." He said in a composed manner, like it's as if this mission was nothing at all.

Lucy stared at old Makarov in skepticism "You mean, Natsu is the other winner?"

"Of course, who are you expecting it to be? I trust you to take care of him." He nodded.

Please don't let him destroy the whole city of Heron!" Sweat trickled down his face, probably thinking about the council's complains about the guild after Natsu's team destroys one town wholly.

"But." The stubborn blonde protested, "How can I be the winner of the intelligence test? There are others who are way smarter than I am!" Lucy crossed her arms, in doubt about her own potential.

"You are not the winner." Master clarified, "In fact, you came in second for the test, right behind Levy." He held his palm up to stop the blonde from protesting any further, "Lucy, when we were having our S class exam at Tenrou Island, seven years ago, Cana told me that you solved the grave test, to find Fairy tail's founding master Mavis Vermillion's grave."

He mentioned her name very slowly as if it is an important person, but she was an important person, after all, she was the one who saved Fairy tail, "This means that you actually have the knowledge to solve such a difficult and puzzling test with only one hint." The master concluded.

The celestial mage kept quiet, she can no longer argue, feeling so guilty for Levy, her best girl friend, she knows that she wants this as much as herself, Lucy clutched her chest, she had been a very selfish friend, poor little Levy.

"About Levy…" The old man pried "I will tell her the truth soon."

The blonde sigh deeply, she didn't know what to do, this was master's decision too, and if he was firm and serious about letting her go, there is absolutely no way to turn him down.

"Lucy, with your brains and Natsu's power, I expect the both of you to finish this quest and return home safely." He took the blond's hand "Please, I leave the both of you in each other's hands."

"Master…" The blonde muttered. "I love Fairy tail, I value my nakamas a lot." She smiled.

The old master nodded "Leave tonight, and don't tell anyone about this yet." He turned to look outside the window "You know how many mages from other guilds are vying for this quest, I don't want chaos to occur in the guild…"

"Understood." Lucy agreed immediately. "I will leave and come back safely."

"I'm glad you understand. I know that I can trust you." The old man had his final raised his hand, signaling the blond to leave the room.

The celestial mage turned to leave but her knees wobbling slightly. She staggered to the door once again, turning the doorknob.

"Make sure you return safely with Natsu." Master Makarov reminded her again, he wouldn't stop until she gave her promise. The blonde mage ceased in her tracks, Lucy smiled confidently without turning to look at him.

"I swear, in the name of Fairy tail, with Natsu with me, I will definitely return." She finally walked out of Master's room, leaving the old man proud and satisfied with his children of Fairy tail.

It was utter chaos back at the guild, she didn't stagger this time, she walked through the doors of the guild, remembering her promise with Makarov, and she hopes Natsu understands too.

She scanned the room for a certain pink haired boy who was raised by a dragon. He was in fact still in his usual fight with half naked Gray.

Juvia was gushing over the ice mage in the middle of the guild. Why is she not surprised?

Erza was sitting at the bar, waving her hands as soon as she saw Lucy standing at the entrance of the guild, next to the scarlet haired requipper sat Levy and Lisanna, laughing among themselves and playing with cute Pantherlily.

The blonde didn't feel like having fun right this moment, she felt guilty as soon as she saw Levy, the solid script mage would be the one leaving for Heron instead of her if not for Master's decision.

Besides Master said that he would tell Levy the truth himself right? She needed to trust Master instead of feeling a sense of pittance for Levy who had won first place, but had not been chosen.

The blonde was guilt-ridden, remorseful even, uneasiness stabbed her guilt ridden heart, before she gave the scarlet haired a short smile before dropping her hands to her side, she had got much more things to do that are much higher in priority, she picked up her pace, searching for Natsu.

She found him easily amongst the cheery crowd, both the pink haired fire mage and raven haired ice mage were both worn-out after their brawl, the celestial mage sigh before she pulled the unconscious Natsu by his scarf, leaving Gray at where he was and stridden out of the guild.

The fire dragon slayer woke up finding himself lying on a soft pink bed of a room, he sat up quickly. He wondered where he was for a second. Wasn't he at the guild? Natsu looked around the room, it was familiar alright. Very familiar, he was in Lucy's house.

"Lucy!" Natsu called. "Happy!" Where are they? He thought. "What time is it?"

He heard a door close. "You're awake." The blonde got out from the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around her body. "Happy's together with Romeo, he had agreed to take care of him." Lucy assured, pulling out the hair towel from her head, her blonde golden hair fell on to her shoulders. "I guess master told you everything already, we'll have to get going once I'm done."

"Go where?" The fire mage asked in confusion.

Frantic, Lucy cupped her hands around Natsu's cheeks, glaring at the innocent looking dragon slayer's drowsy pair of eyes; he doesn't look like he was joking around "You're kidding right?" She confirmed, her eyebrows furrowed, concentrating firmly into his eyes.

"Kidding?" He probed again, totally confused now. There was a moment of silence; they could hear the trees rustling outside. Lucy took her hands off his face,

"WHAT? MASTER HADN'T TOLD YOU A THING?" The celestial mage broke down into sweats, she felt like as if her lungs had inflate, she face palmed, sweat trickling down her forehead, feeling the weight of having to explain every single thing to Natsu, which was one of the hardest things to do.

She uttered a cry, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear before starting her explanation.

"I knew that I would beat Gray!" The pink haired mage exclaimed right after the celestial mage had told him everything, clearly nothing matters more than that right now, he's just plain happy that he had beaten his rival.

Natsu stopped laughing and turned to Lucy, his face looking at her suspiciously, "Why should we leave so secretly?" He folded his arms.

The celestial mage in turn racked her brains for a reply, heck, it wasn't like Natsu to ask so many questions at this time.

"I… I don't know…" She sighed, "I told you, Master doesn't want anyone to see us. He doesn't want anyone to vie for the quest."

The dragon scratch his head, confused with such explanation, he doesn't want to understand why this quest is so extraordinary that anyone would vie for it.

"We're taking a boat?" The fire mage groaned, he did not dare to think about the experience later, his face turn purple.

"How can you have motion sickness just by thinking of it?!" The celestial mage cried as she stood up from the couch, she needed to tell him something important, something that Master Makarov had trusted the both of them in.

She moved in and sat on the floor next to Natsu, she tucked her towel deeper in between her chest. She didn't mind, he was her best friend, wrapped in towel or wearing a ball gown, she would always be Lucy to him.

"Promise me that you'll stick with me during this mission." She said patting his shoulder, "I gave master my promise…"

Natsu simply nodded as she said that, He didn't seem bothered and was thinking deeply in his own world and mind.

The blonde didn't mind, she stood up and proceeded towards the wardrobe to get changed.

This time she tied her hair into a bun instead of her usual ponytails.

They didn't know what the mission was about, what monsters would they fight and what kind of case they would solve.

Everything was a mess at that moment and she felt even frustrated than ever, but still, she was confident that they would be back safely.

She turned to stare at the pink haired mage. He had gone awfully quiet hadn't he? She thought, she quickly changed into a sweet white tank top and walked towards the dragon slayer.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" She asked, he was deep in his thoughts and she smiled at him.

"Lucy." He said in a smile, Lucy jumped wondering why how had he switched moods so rapidly.

"Yes, Natsu?" She crossed her arms in confusion.

"You'd better stick to me too because I'll bash anyone who tries to hurt my nakama!" He placed his hand on her shoulder "Your promise is my promise!"

She laughed, greatly touched by the words the dragon slayer said, she blushed slightly, glad that she had him as a best friend. This was probably why everyone loves Natsu.

"Alright." The blonde picked up one of the backpacks that were sitting on the mat and head towards the door.

"Let's go." She signaled to the dragon slayer. The muffled voices outside made her stop in her tracks, she turned back into the room. She didn't want to make any mistakes.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked when he saw the red faced blonde turn her back to the door.

"We can't be discovered! It's what master warned us about remember!?" The blonde squeaked cautiously, extremely aware of the people walking passed her house.

She noticed that Natsu had already slid the window open.

"Let's go!" The fire mage jumped leaving his blonde partner in sweats.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: I will only be posting 3 chapters for the time being. I just want to see the people's reaction to this story and the reviews on this as well. If the response is great, I will keep posting. So, please support me! Love ya!**

**Chapter 3.**

The fire dragon slayer's face turned blue, he held his mouth with his hand to keep himself from throwing up, his face changed into a puke-green colour soon after that.

Lucy Heartfillia sighed, sitting next to the now green-faced Natsu, she reached to pat his back as he turned his head to the side of the boat and hurled into the deep dark water.

The boatman raised an eyebrow at the fire mage and shook his head.

"Are you alright, young man?" He asked the pale-faced Natsu, totally freaked out by the hurling mage.

Natsu was obviously not going to reply in such a condition.

The boat was rented by Master Makarov to bring them to their location, Heron city. The boatman had a beard and a friendly smile. Lucy pulled her hand back when the pale-faced mage turned his head to the front of the boat holding his mouth with both palms again.

"It's alright, he has motion sickness." The blonde spoke up, answering the boatman's question.

He rubbed his chin, nodding "You should knock him unconscious, that poor young boy is suffering right now." The boatman winked at Lucy.

That's it! That's what Erza always do when the team travels in a train right? Why hadn't she thought about that?

The blonde smiled at the boatman, she grabbed the pale-faced Natsu who was still cupping his mouth with his hands, he may hurl anytime.

"Sorry Natsu" Lucy whispered in his ear. She pulled her fist into the air, punching the dragon slayer into his rock solid chest.

She waited, but nothing happened, the pale-faced fire mage did not even flinched.

"Wha…" She turned to the boatman for help.

"I guess your punch didn't take any damage on him, young lady." The boatman laughed.

Lucy turned to her keys for help, but the boatman stopped her, summoning a spirit in such a narrow boat was a no.

The celestial mage sighed, guess Natsu needs to endure until they reach Heron.

Natsu's face turned green as his body leaned against Lucy's side, the elder stopped rowing for just a moment, standing up shakily on the boat, Lucy stayed seated as the boat tilted slightly when the boat man stood up, he bent down to pick up his oar, steadying himself on the small boat and smacked the now semi-conscious Natsu in the chest.

"THAT'S CRUEL!" The blonde shrieked at the elder, who had quietly settled down at the end of the boat, continuing to row calmly. Natsu's head immediately fell on Lucy's lap. The dragon slayer was totally knocked out from the boat man's oar attack.

"Calm down, I'm really sorry that I had to knock your boyfriend out." The boatman countered coolly, not having a tinge of guilt in his face. "But if you want the best for him, I can always help out. Besides, he is already sleeping in peace." He glanced at Natsu who was snoring softly on Lucy's lap, which what seemed too comfortable.

This remark made Lucy frown at the partially unconscious and sleeping dragon slayer.

"Sorry, but he's not my boyfr…" Lucy - irritated at the other remark - tried to correct the boatman, but he just doesn't see this as an example of making a better conversation and cut her off, since they don't have a certain someone hurling and making grunting noises, just because of motion sickness.

It was just great that Natsu finally got the chance to sleep in 'transportation' and ignore his motion sickness for the time being.

"So you are mages of Fairy tail right?" The boatman smiled at Lucy, who was looking up at the starry night sky. The celestial mage caught his question, nodded and went back to gaze at the stars.

"It used to be a great guild seven years ago." The boatman continued talking, "In fact they were quite strong and huge too."

What the boat man said had caught the celestial mage's attention, she turned to listen, this time she wished that Natsu was conscious enough to make the situation much livelier and also listen to whatever this elder man had got to say about their guild during the seven years when they were hidden in tenrou island.

"I heard that a bunch of members and even their master went missing then, it was big news that time, seven years ago." The boatman reminisced, "I heard they were doing some sort of test."

Lucy swallowed, she felt guilty but felt that the he was trustable enough anyway, but giving out too much information about the guild meant failing the mission.

"Well, we went camping." The celestial mage explained to the boat man, and at that time she felt lucky that Natsu was unconscious, she did not know whether Natsu would be able to fib and produce a lie so hard to not trust in.

"Camping?" The boatman raised his eyebrow, feeling a little puzzled, having felt an air of mendacity Lucy had so bluntly spun. "So you were one of the missing members?" The boatman tried to confirm.

"Yes, some of us are." Lucy replied, "I was a little too young to remember," She murmured to herself, feeling a little uncomfortable by the man's question. She didn't want to talk about it with a stranger, but he looked so sincere and curious that she didn't want to ignore him and rudely switch the subject.

The moon had hid beneath the clouds leaving the night stars to shine alone in the night sky, making the whole atmosphere a hundred times spookier than before. "So, how old were you then? Ten years old?" The old man laughed gaily, which sounded much more like a witch in the surrounding darkness.

Lucy didn't have a choice, she nodded her head, agreeing with what the old man had concluded, she couldn't tell him that they had not aged one bit, that would make her mentally twenty-four but physically seventeen, but whom in the right mind would believe in such tales? No one would believe her even if she told anyone about this matter. The celestial mage shifted uncomfortably, rocking the boat at the same time.

She thought about the last time they were still doing their exams in Tenrou Island. Right now, everything had changed, the guild, being in the best guild of Magnolia, she remembered gushing over wanting to be a member of Fairytail when she met Natsu.

Oh! How she missed those memories, and Acnologia had taken away their precious time, even though they hadn't aged, they lost quite a lot of money and position of being one of the top guilds. Thanks to Macao and the rest of the members, their guild was not at the risk of being disbanded.

Lucy caught the boat man staring cautiously at her, as if he was reading her mind, she turned her head away quickly, as a tear dripped down her cheeks. She hated reminiscing in her head about those times before the Acnologia effect, but what was the use of crying over spilled milk? What matters most is that everybody is together.

She looked out again, tired from the questions and speaking with the boatman had made her sleepy, if only could she lie down and sleep for a while…


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I hoped it won't turn out so OOC, cause I am trying to speed things up and all that crap. Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Chapter 4.**

"Miss." Lucy felt a hand tugging her shoulder. She woke up, rubbing her eyes, Natsu's head was still on her lap, fast asleep.

"Miss, I can see Heron port from here, wake him up." The boat man pointed at Natsu.

"We're here! Wake up!" Lucy shook Natsu violently.

"Hmmp…" Natsu mumbled, still asleep.

The boat drifted toward the port, Heron is a small town, but damn it was crowded with people.

"Heron is a trading town, they don't have wizards here, so be really careful before telling anyone your true identity because they might think that you are up to no good. Got it, little girl?" The boat man advised.

When they reached the port, Lucy dragged Natsu up the steps from the boat. A woman stared down at the both of them, smiling before bowing.

"Greetings, I saw the mark on both your bodies, you must be wizards from Magnolia." She said softly, she had long maroon hair and was wearing an office blouse; she was also carrying a clipboard with her golden name tag pinned on her shirt pocket. Lucy glanced up at the woman.

"Miss Lucy, I'll be right here in Heron until dawn, and when dawn arrives, I will be leaving for Hargeon port. If you fail to come before dawn, a public ship might be here next week to take you back to Hargeon." The boat man said, driving both their attention to him. "That is, if you finished the quest late."

The celestial mage nodded, turning back to the maroon haired woman, who smiled at the boat man and proceeded to bow formally.

"Do you have to be so formal?!" The boat man blushed, embarrassed.

"That, I'm used to it. I work for the Heron palace. My name is Rose, nice to meet you." She introduced.

"The… Heron palace?" Lucy thought, standing up, carrying Natsu around her shoulder.

"Shhh!" Rose hushed "Don't speak so loudly, let's go to my office." She glanced at the dragon slayer whom Lucy was dragging, his arm around her shoulder, heavy sleeper perhaps. "Wake him up." Rose pointed at him.

"Uh, I tried to…" The blonde stammered.

"Just do it!" Rose exclaimed impatiently. "Wake him or I will."

"Wha… Lucy?" The dragon slayer had woken up himself, probably unaware of his surroundings. "We've reached?"

"Yes." Lucy said bluntly, annoyed with him. "YOU DON'T GET THE SITUATION DO YOU?!" She punched him.

"Forget it… I don't understand why I hired you…" Rose straightened her badge.

"No no!" Lucy explained "We've got it, what should we do?"

"Fine, since you are willing to do it… Pay attention, I only say this once, anymore questions, I'll take that you don't get it and I'll hire another guild to do this. IS THAT CLEAR?" Rose rubbed her temples, annoyed.

"Clear clear!" Lucy nodded vigorously, buckets of sweat were pouring down her face.

"Alright…" Rose slapped her forehead "What am I doing?!" She pointed at their shocked faces. "We're supposed to talk at my office!" Sweat trickled down comically down Lucy's face.

A carriage awaits them at the main road, Rose motioned Lucy and Natsu to climb into it before she mounted the horse.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand, knowing that he is going to be sick from this and she patted his back before the carriage moves.

"Lie down on my lap, you'll feel better." She said, praying that he wouldn't puke on her.

"No thanks." he leaned out of the window and released her hand.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" She shouted, pulling him roughly away from the window.

"We're here." The carriage stopped and Rose climbed down from the horse. "We're here." She repeated, opening the carriage door. The two mages emerged from the carriage, wide eyed.

The palace was enormous and extravagant but surprisingly there wasn't a person on guard.

"Don't ask too much." Rose pointed to their guild marks, "Conceal that mark before you step in, no one knows about wizard guilds in Heron, they might think that you are from an organization."

Lucy took the powder that Rose was holding in her hands, applying some on her mark before turning to help Natsu apply it, both marks glittered and hid behind the concealer perfectly. It's magic!

"Are you a wizard?" Lucy asked Rose curiously.

Rose nodded sadly, her eyes locked on to the floor. "I was." She stopped. "I will tell you some day, but we have important things to do right now." She cut her off.

Rose took them walking bristly through vast hallways and path ways, strangely no one was on guard.

"Natsu, isn't it strange?" Lucy pulled Natsu to her side. "There isn't a single person except for us!" She whispered to his ear, before getting squinted by Rose's death stare.

"You'd better walk fast." She called over to them.

She led them to a corridor, finally halting to a stop, she turned to open the door, motioning them to take a seat. The office was furnished with royal red velvet curtains and paintings with golden carved frames.

"You must be wondering about how important this mission is." Rose glanced at Natsu, who was looking up at the ceiling of her office.

"ARE YOU LISTENING?" Rose boomed, frightening the two mages. "The princess ran away a week ago." She sighed. The two mages widened their eyes, shocked.

"I need you, blondie, to go undercover and act as the princess…"

"Hahahahah!" Natsu burst into laughter "Lucy? Princess?" Lucy punched him in the stomach. "Ouch."

Rose went on "The thing is, the Princess have striking blonde hair too, that was why we specifically suggested a blonde mage to help us, well we would just get someone to be the prince-to-be…"

_Huh. Natsu? A prince? Unless you want the entire city in ashes, of course._

"So it's going to be Natsu?" Lucy folded her arms, staring at Rose questioningly. "Where is the real princess?"

"I don't know." Came the reply, Rose stared out of the window. "The people of Heron are suspicious when we told them that the princess isn't allowing any visitors for a week…"

Rose continued, "So a week after that, we told them that the princess was unable to take in visitors because she is getting married-"

"What?! Are you out of your mind?" The celestial mage shrieked, "You don't say that to the people, you say things like 'The princess is away in boarding school'!"

"Why didn't you tell the people of Heron, that the princess had ran away?" Lucy asked, curious about her role.

"I don't want the people to panic." Rose explained "Besides, the princess hardly ever went out so many people don't know what she looked like."

"That's easy." Lucy said.

"You can resume your own life once again when you're inside the palace." Rose said "I've dismissed everyone working here, until once the princess returns."

Lucy nodded "What about Natsu then?"

"He could be the groom, it was an unknown man, so I supposed I could just take any one to play the groom's role." Rose sighed "Other than going undercover, I would like you to help me find the princess, right after the wedding ceremony."

"What?" Natsu retorted "No monsters and no fighting?"

"You trust us then?" Lucy asked "In looking for the princess?"

"Not entirely…Just do a good job in this." Rose replied "If anything goes wrong, you'll be thrown in the dungeon." She pointed at the blonde mage.

Lucy stared at Rose, appalled by her comment.

"Risky." She thought, but anyway an important mission involved risks, and they had to complete this. She didn't care about Rose's trust. Master had trusted the both of them anyway.

"But why should we get married?" Lucy retaliated, the plan felt a little too redundant. "We can find another resolution to this."

"I've got this. I planned this right after I received the bad news." Rose replied, angrily.

"I can always give this to another guild you know," She repeated again, "going undercover is the easiest mission."

"Come on, Luce." Natsu nudged the celestial mage.

"Okay, we'll do." Lucy finally agreed.

"I'm all fired up." Natsu commented.

"We're not fighting." Rose glared at Natsu "It's simple, wake up at eight tomorrow." And she got up "I'll show you to your room, come on."

Rose led them up to their room, just a few stories up.

"Here." Rose turned to Lucy "This is your room." She walked away with Natsu following her.

"Why are you following me?" Rose turn to the pink haired fire mage.

"What about my room?" Natsu pulled his bag and hoist it over his shoulders.

"I only booked a room for the both of you." She explained.

A few metres away, Lucy opened the door to her room, while Natsu dashed to the widely opened door, helping Lucy to carry her bags into their room.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked "Go to bed." She closed the door.

"This is my room too." Natsu pushed the door back, dropping the bags next to the bed, "That woman said that she only booked one room for us."

"This mission is ridiculous." Lucy whined "One room and a plan that doesn't make sense."

Natsu groaned, climbing on to the bed. "Stop whining." He said.

"TAKE A BATH!" The blonde snapped, "Wait… one bed?"

"Yeah…" Natsu sat up.

"You're getting it all dirty." She glared at him. "You do know that I'm sleeping here too right?" She looked around the room. At least there was a kitchen. She walked towards the fridge. It was completely stocked up with food.

She grabbed bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo, that the palace had provided, before going into the bathroom to take a shower. To her surprise, it wasn't really a regular bathroom, but a small and private hot spring for two. The bamboo walls separated each mini hot spring. A tray with bathrobes was provided as well.

"Natsu, Look!" Lucy called to Natsu who was lying on the bed, tired and sleepy. The dragon slayer dragged himself to where Lucy was standing.

"Wow, a hot spring tub!" The dragon dashed into the 'Bathroom'.

At the hot spring next to Natsu's, Lucy undressed herself and wrapped her body with a towel before climbing in to one of the hot spring. She could hear Natsu splashing around.

"Natsu!" She called, wondering whether he could hear her.

"Lucy, this isn't warm at all."

"That's because you are a fire mage!" She snapped back at him, reverting back calmly and trying to relax. "Hey, Natsu." She repeated.

"Yeah. I'm here."

"You do understand what we have to do right?" She asked.

"What, do you think I'm a moron?" Natsu replied cockily, "In any ways, I'm still smarter than you."

"DO YOU GET THE SITUATION HERE, YOU PRICK!" Lucy jumped up and snapped at the cocky Dragon Slayer.

Natsu ignored her and continued splashing like an ignorant and prickly kid.

"Do you know what to say for tomorrow's wedding?" Lucy asked, ignoring his last comment and focused her mind on the quest they have to complete tomorrow.

"I don't know." Natsu simply answered. "Why can't we fight monsters instead of doing this?" He sighed.

The blonde mage ignored him, she closed her eyes "I will be walking towards you… and after we exchange vows… you say 'I do'."

"I do?" Natsu raised his brow and lay his head on the marble tiles "That's easy."

"After that, you put the ring on… for me." Lucy smiled, it was just like a dream, she dreamed of getting married all her life, with a guy whom she could trust, love and protect, and tomorrow, she would be experiencing it, even though the marriage wouldn't be real, but this will be exactly the same as every other wedding. "And then… we'll kiss." A blush immediately crept up her cheek. She opened her eyes nervous and embarrassed. "Natsu?" She called, but there wasn't a response, he hadn't been listening and had definitely fallen asleep. Fury rose up her spine.

_Was he really sleeping when she had poured her life long emotions to him? Damn that insensitive fire bastard._

She got up from her hot spring tub, and stormed towards Natsu's hot tub. He hadn't fallen asleep. Instead he was focusing intently and staring into space. Lucy slipped into Natsu's hot spring and sat beside him.

"If anything goes wrong…" Lucy continued.

"Nothing will." Natsu interrupted.

"I'm sorry, I was just…" Lucy apologized.

"That's because I am here. I won't let anyone mess with my nakama." Natsu assured, still staring into space. "We made a promise with that geezer."

Lucy smiled. She took Natsu's hand, and the dragon slayer directed his gaze to her grip. It felt strange without the mark on the back of her palm.

"Promise to protect me Natsu?" She glanced at the dark, starry sky before closing her eyes to relax.

"Promise." He finally answered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: This is the most important chapter of the story. Even though this is a Gruvia chapter, please read it since it has elements of the climax. Thank you, hope you like it! :D**

**Chapter 5.**

Mean while, back at the guild…

"So… we had a mission on importing…" Freed and Bickslow were explaining to MiraJane about their latest mission, slamming their fists on the table.

"So I guess that they wouldn't cut your pay in half…" MiraJane explained, while fixing a cocktail for them.

Charles and Juvia were seated on the counter as well. Charles kept her eye on the guild and thought that something was amiss. Where were Lucy and Natsu? Were they the winners for that special mission that everyone was fussing about? She sat next to Juvia, eyeing her fruit pie.

"Juvia… didn't you get chosen for the test?" Charles asked the water mage, Juvia stared at the white exceed, Charles rarely talked to her and now, she was at a loss of words.

"Juvia don't know… Master said that he would announce it soon." Juvia shrugged shyly, it was an awkward conversation, but with that, the white exceed nodded.

"Where are Lucy and Natsu?" She asked the water mage again. "Were they chosen?"

Juvia thought, she hadn't seen them all day. Meredy came to sit at the counter too, Crime sorcerier were here in the guild to spend some time. Given that Jellal wants to visit Erza as well, the both of them had probably gone outside to have a talk.

"Juvia really don't know." The water mage told Charles again. "But I think that they are chosen too."

"What are you guys talking about?" Meredy asked, pinching the fruit pie that Juvia was eating.

"It's nothing..." Charles replied. "We really shouldn't…

"It's about a mission." Juvia interrupted. "Juvia and neko were talking about it."

"Charles!" The white exceed corrected her angrily. "Not neko!"

"Oh." Meredy replied who clearly had no interest in this matter. Right before she burst into a string of rants about how Jellal was always bugging them to come and visit Fairy tail, for obvious reasons. Meredy left the table soon after that and Juvia went on to cut her fruit pie into smaller sizes.

Nevertheless, Charles had a bad feeling about this mission, even though she hadn't had a bad vision about this matter, but her instincts had told her that this is truly as dangerous. Should she tell Wendy about it? What use would it be even if she had? The first person she should tell would be Erza, but right now both her and Jellal were not in the guild. The white exceed shook her head, she must tell someone.

"Juvia." Charles tugged Juvia's coat with her paw. "I'm a little suspicious about this mission. I don't think it is safe." Juvia put her fork down, confused.

"What I mean is… Lucy and Natsu might be in danger." The exceed finished.

Juvia ran back to Fairy hills, she had to tell someone. Charles wanted to stay with Wendy and Juvia had agreed to go on first. The white exceed promised to forward the word to Master if they ever realized that Juvia had been away to look for them.

"Levy!" Juvia called, "Levy!" She called louder this time. Instead, Evergreen came storming down.

"Hey rain woman! What do you think you are doing?!" She shouted at her angrily. Juvia apologized, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She sighed heavily. Levy wasn't in as well. She hadn't got any time; she rushed up to the dorm and packed her stuff. She bundled them, pulled out a few clothes, prepared a lunch box and finally she exited the dorm.

Juvia rushed to the harbour, her bag strapped onto her back. She didn't know the timing of any of the boat services, but that was what she needed to find out, even walking on foot is better than any other kind of transport that only came in once a month.

"Juvia!" That was the voice of someone she had loved her whole life, why was she dreaming in the middle of doing something serious? Juvia shook her head hastily, she had much more important things to do. Thinking about fantasies like these can wait. She continued to walk.

"Juvia!" Why does Gray's voice keep getting into her mind? She continued to move on. Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrists.

"Oi! Where are you going?" Gray Fullbuster had managed to grab her wrists firmly. The water mage yelped in pain, he let her go and she rubbed her wrists before looking up.

"Gr…Gray sama!" Juvia managed to squeak "Wahhhh!" She screamed, her heart fluttered.

"What are you doing?" Gray hissed. "People are staring at us!"

"Juvia apologize." Juvia did not dare look Gray in the eye. She rubbed her hands and stared at the floor guiltily. She would not let Gray come with her, even if she wants it, but putting her friend in danger is not what she intended to do. "Juvia…needs to get going…" She stammered.

"Where are you going?" Gray asked again, softly this time. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Juvia is really sorry!" Juvia pushed his hand away, heartbroken, "Juvia has something to do!" She ran towards the harbour, leaving Gray standing alone by himself, wondering what the heck happened to her.

"Excuse me, but do you know of any ships going to Heron town?" Juvia managed to grab hold of a sailor, who was lying on a hammock and smoking a cigar. At the corner of her eye, she saw some cans of alcohol. Wrong approach, she had asked a drunken man, but this was her only hope, there was no one else at the harbour.

"Aye, young lady..." He smiled "What are you doing alone at night?" Juvia gulped, holding on to her bag tightly. She took a step back while the sailor climbed out of his hammock.

"What will you do if I tell you?" The sailor asked slyly, taking a step towards her and she stepped backwards, unsure of what to do.

"Go away!" The water mage screamed, "I'm a wizard!" She threatened, panicking.

The sailor did not care, instead he grabbed Juvia by her shoulder, she was unable to move. She concentrated on building up her magic but it was no use, the sailor's big hands were grabbing her arms, her body was made of water, but it seem like she could only dodge attacks and not lecherous attacks like these. She began concentrating on water slicer, but with hands binding her own, she was helpless.

"Water… Slicer!" She concentrated, building the power in the rest of her body even though she could not use her hands.

"Ice make, Lance!" Suddenly bolts of ice spears rained downwards, attacking the drunken sailor, he was pushed back and fell into the water.

"So, the blue haired decides to find another companion." Gray came from behind, his voice oozing with sarcasm and cockiness as he shove his hands into his coat's pocket.

"No! Ju…Ju…Juvia was not doing anything!" The water mage stammered, even ashamed of herself when her crush was standing right in front of her.

Instead of Juvia's usual squealing, today she just wasn't herself. She'd gotten embarrassed in front of Gray, stressed up and she was already taken advantage of. But now, Gray starts to doubt her. She felt boiling water rising in her head. She couldn't take it any longer. She can't attack someone from the guild and that person was whom she had liked all this while!

So, instead, she wept. It had been quite a long time since she had cried over such things like these.

"Ju…via…!" Gray panicked "I'm…sorry…I didn't mean… to…" He struggled, wrecking his brain for ways to stop her from crying, since Juvia was full out sobbing. No one was watching, but he was sure people would slide open their windows and ridicule him if Juvia had cried even louder.

Juvia continued to sob furiously. Her tears were the same temperature of sun. She dropped her backpack onto the floor, annoyed with everything right at that moment. Her legs gave way and she sat on the floor of the harbour, burying her tear-streaked face in her hands.

"Are…you okay…?" Gray asked totally clueless "Juvia?" He placed his hands on her shoulders, noticing that she had already stopped crying. No doubt Juvia was still in an emotional breakdown and she was already worrying about many things. "Get on my back." Gray sighed.

"What?" Juvia looked up.

Gray had picked up Juvia's backpack and slung it over his shoulders. "Charles found me and told me to come with you to Heron." Gray smiled "You're an important person in my life and so are Natsu and Lucy." He extended his hand in front of the water mage "So let me come with you." He took Juvia's hand in his, and finally after furious sobs, she felt good to smile again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Another update! So this chapter is somehow like a filler chapter, it's short and may be a little OOC. Cause it's just the night scene. It was supposed to be written together with chapter 4, but I decided to separate them. I hope you enjoy it :D**

**Chapter 6.**

Lucy walked out of the hot springs with a fresh mind and was much more alert than normal. It's weird that soaking in hot water could do so much. She had a dry towel wrapped around her body as she unwrapped her hair towel to let her sleek blonde hair fall onto her shoulders.

She stood in front of the mirror, admiring herself. Oh, how much she had changed since she had joined Fairy tail. She was glad she wasn't as weak and scrawny as before and after joining the guild, she could feel muscles tightening in her legs as well as her arms from all the running and fighting.

Natsu emerged from the hot springs as well. His hair already dried, probably due to his body heat. He dragged himself to the bed, groaning. Clearly the hot springs didn't do any good towards him. He hugged the pillow before letting out a huge yawn.

Lucy sighed. She bundled her hair before walking towards the backpack to get more comfortable clothes. The clothes the palace provided were too… exposed. Yuck, she wouldn't wear those, not with Natsu around, because he would definitely die from hysterics. She stared at the yawning mage and rolled her eyes.

She squinted at him once more time just to be safe, making sure he was asleep before turning her back towards him. She slowly took off her towel to change into her clothes.

Still insecure, she called once again "Hey Natsu." She was extra aware since she knew that even though he was her best friend, he, together with the others, tried to peek into the girls' hot springs a few months ago, right before the 'Grand wizard tournament'.

"Natsu." She called the dragon slayer again, just making sure that he was really asleep and not catch her while she was in the midst of changing her clothes. Well, since he was already asleep, there wouldn't be any harm. She thought, removing the towel. She didn't feel like changing in the hot springs since it felt more like a balcony instead of a bathroom.

She had chosen to change into a simple pair of shorts and a white tank top, which seemed quite normal to sleep in anyway, but then she remembered that Natsu was around.

Ah, crap. She thought, but decided to ignore the matter. Natsu can't be that mature, all he thinks about is fighting and paying too much attention to Gray's half nakedness.

The celestial mage pulled out her hair band that binds her hair. Once again, her long blonde hair fell onto her shoulders and brushed her fair shoulders softly, like feathers.

She turned around and discovered that the fire mage was sitting up straight on the bed with droopy eyes. He blinked and Lucy blinked back, her legs shaking. He was watching her all along! She hugged her body defensively.

"Were you watching all along?" Lucy asked, ready to pounce on him, "I thought you were asleep!" She shouted at him, feeling mortified and her cheeks glowed bright pink.

"I was!" Natsu yelled back, "You were calling my name and I woke up!" He yawned again.

"Did…you… see anything?" Lucy stuttered.

"No."

"Are you really sure?"

"You were changing into your clothes…" Natsu muttered.

"Ahhh!" She shrieked, "Get out, you pervert!"

The dragon slayer ignored this and went back to sleep, yawning again as his head hit the pillow.

Lucy walked towards the bed, nudging the drowsy Natsu. "Can you roll to the side?" She asked "I need space." She climbed onto the bed.

Natsu did not budge.

She reluctantly pushed him to one side of the bed while she took the other. Unfortunately, she had pushed the dragon slayer until he fell in between the wall and the bed.

"Ouch!" Natsu shouted at his female partner, "What a monster!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Lucy laughed cheekily, "I didn't see you there!"

Lucy pulled the blanket as soon as Natsu had successfully clambered up the bed, covering the both of them. It was a chilly night anyway. She knew that tomorrow would be the busiest day of the mission.

Natsu was already fast asleep, and Lucy reached up to turn off the lamplight. The trees outside the palace rustled, sending a chill down her spine. She couldn't sleep. She sat up and hugged herself. The celestial mage shivered as the wind outside howled and a rainstorm started soon after that.

Thinking about it, she was in an unknown place, making everything different. She didn't like the feeling, she was uneasy about this mission. There seemed to be an evil aura surrounding this place.

Though, she felt that there was a spell being casted on this palace. A spell that brings fear to the mind and suddenly, Lucy's mind was filled with all of her fears.

The pictures flashed really quickly in her mind and all she could see was great power, missing keys, guild members dying, Natsu, Happy, Gray, Erza, all of them leaving her.

"Natsu," Lucy sat up, "I have a strange feeling…" She turned quiet, hugging herself tightly and willing herself not to cry.

Paranoia soon engulfed her. What is this feeling? She was still a little traumatised over that 'fear flash' a few seconds ago. The worst one of her fears was not being able to be protected by her friends, labeling her as 'the weak one' in the group. She shook her head, did her members also think of her that way? She didn't want to hear it.

"Lucy…" Natsu sat up from the bed, when he seemed to feel the strange feeling emanating from her. He was speechless. What happened to her? He thought.

"Hey, tell me what happened." He said softly, but still questioningly. He know that this was no laughing matter, to have heard the fear in the quiver of someone so dear to him makes him want to hug and comfort her instead of irritating her with his jokes.

"Natsu… I'm scared…" Lucy whispered. She was no longer shivering, but her voice still quavered while she spoke. She turned around and faced him, giving him a small smile.

"It's funny that I got scared because of the thunder, huh?" She said instead, as her smile faded, "Sometimes I wonder why I think too much." She decided that she wouldn't tell Natsu about her suspicions, and then she wonder whether this was because of the spell as well.

Well, in anyways, she wished that Natsu would be a little smarter to realised that the palace was cursed in a way. She was also avoiding herself from asking Natsu if the group was better off without her, since she was rendered 'the most useless'. She bit her lip and avoided his gaze.

"You do?" Natsu asked, rubbing his head as he pursed his lips together, pondering the words his partner had said.

"Go on and laugh at me." She turned her gaze downwards. She couldn't bear to cry in front of him as a tear formed at the corner of her eye. She was not only angry with herself, but also with everything that went wrong.

"Lucy…"

"Hahahaha." Lucy laughed lightly "Isn't it funny that I need to be protected all the time?" She blurted out and immediately regretted it, this time it was fake, as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I am always the one avoiding a fight and always got you to protect me…and you always come…" She muttered and a tear dripped onto the bed. Natsu was still watching her with seriousness in his eyes.

"I'm the one who is so useless, why is everyone so good to me?" She started to sob again.

"Why did you bring me to Fairy tail?!" She grabbed the sleeves of his shirt.

He pulled her close to him and Lucy buried her face in his chest.

"Shhh, don't cry, I'm here." He comforted her. Lucy snuggled next to him. The heat from the dragon slayer's body warmed her up.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"Shhh, it's alright." Natsu replied, hugging her tighter and pulled the blanket up. Lucy couldn't hear the thunder or feel the unfamiliar atmosphere any longer, because Natsu makes her feel safe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating for a few days now, I am still planning the climax and all that stuff. I did a quick scan on this chapter before posting this. Don't hesitate to point out my typos here. Since I only did a rough scan so... Hope you enjoy this chapter! :D Love you guys x3**

**Chapter 7.**

Lucy's lashes fluttered open as she lay silently on the bed. Natsu lay next to her in a peaceful and comfortable demeanor, his eyes were still closed.

This was the day they carry out the wedding plan, the blonde sigh, getting out of bed and sauntering towards the window to draw open the curtains.

The window was facing an extensive and beautiful garden. Butterflies, dragonflies and fishes inhabited it, Lucy gaped in awe. It was beautiful.

The doorbell rang and the blonde turned her back to the window to open the door.

"Good morning." Rose stood outside with a white lace gown that was neatly folded in her hands, "Lucy, come with me." She pulled the startled mage hands, dragging her through the hallways.

"Okay, Lucy, today is your 'Fake marriage' day," Rose nodded towards the mage, "Do you know why I need the both of you to do this?"

Lucy shook her head in bewilderment, of course she didn't know, why would Rose raise this ridiculous question? She was quite difficult to read and comprehend sometimes. Lucy crossed her arms and waited for the maroon haired woman to explain.

"Okay, here goes," Rose inhaled and tears surged up her eyes, "The princess wasn't missing or kidnapped, she eloped." Rose was quavering, but went back to her calm demeanor soon after.

The stellar mage widened her eyes in astonishment. She eloped?

"She told me about it the day before, to keep quiet about this matter, she told me to find a new princess, a person whom I can trust," Rose paused, "I needed someone, but also someone who could look for the princess. She was a dear friend and I couldn't bear to not see her again."

Rose tried to keep her expression on, but Lucy remained skeptical about the situation. She wanted to ask about the aura and the weird spell, the lack of servants and maids and cooks. Lucy began pondering but kept quiet rather than asking Rose, who seemed to be no help at all.

"So, why do we need to hold a marriage?" Lucy asked, "I think this plan is redundant."

"The princess promised the people that she would be choosing the suitor among the royals and the marriage would take place a week later. She chose a suitor last week and she ran away just like that!" Rose wailed, "I am infuriated that I needed to take the responsibility for her, she was so…so…" She paused, thinking of a word to describe the Princess's behavior, "irresponsible…"

"What if someone found out that I am a fake?" Lucy questioned, aware of the risks that Rose was taking.

"The princess was always behind a veil," Rose kept her voice to the minimum, "Her face was disfigured since she was a child. Acid incident, it was too hard to bear." Rose whispered in a depressed tone, "I was also wondering why she had to make the marriage public."

"She made the marriage public?"

"Well, not exactly, it will just be a small chapel wedding with just some of the royals of other towns and I will be there to watch you. It will just be this wedding and then you can resume your normal life in the palace, I promise."

"That doesn't seem to be convincing…" Lucy laughed, watching at the sight of the dress in Rose's hands, "What is this anyway?" Lucy pointed to the dress in Rose's hands.

"It's your wedding gown." Rose held the dress up, allowing Lucy to marvel at it, "I made it myself, together with what the princess drew." Rose pursed her lips and her eyes flashed hurt and insecurity. Lucy thought that it might be due to the mere mention of the princess.

Rule, never mention the princess in front of Rose. The blonde mage made a mental note.

"It's beautiful." The dress was sewn exceptionally and carefully. It was a white strapless gown with lacy patterns of white flowers and some ribbons at the bottom of the skirt as well. It was perfect.

"You need to do your makeup, the wedding will be held this afternoon." Rose gestured for Lucy to get into a room. Curtains were draped onto the ceilings making a thin barrier for a blank room and the dressing room.

Behind the curtains, three women with different coloured hair, purple, green and blue, were standing behind the dressing table. Lucy managed a hesitant smile, not sure about the idea. What could go wrong, it is three million jewels, for goodness sake!

"Come and sit," The purple haired women patted the chair in front of them, "We'll start with your make up."

Lucy sat, and for the next hour, she went through blushes, foundation, lipstick, applying fake eyelashes and putting on eyeliner. They pulled her hair back and curled it slightly, making the bottom part of her hair in little sweet curls. Lastly, they made a professional messy bun with her hair. The three of them were in charge of different sections, one was doing manicures and pedicures, one of them on hair and the last one was in charge of the facial makeup. It was thoroughly planned, all thanks to Rose.

"Are we done?" Rose came in, "It will—" She stopped.

Lucy turned around and faced Rose, the maroon haired woman step back in awe, "Oh my goodness, thank you girls for your help! Lucy looks stunning!" Rose thanked the women before turning to Lucy.

"Really!" Lucy huffed, she had endured a long agonizing hour, and she wanted it to be worth it. She exhaled, pleased with Rose's reaction, she hadn't seen herself in her makeup yet, waiting for the last moment when she will be in her dress to only look at herself.

"Okay, time for the dress." Rose skipped happily, closing the curtain behind her, Lucy followed, only to realize that behind the curtain was a rack with hangers and dresses hanging on it. A makeshift changing room appeared in the room as well. Rose stared back, a small smile plastered on her lips.

"Surprise, surprise," Lucy muttered, touched by the hard work Rose had put in to the fake marriage. It really seemed like a real wedding.

"This is the dress you will be wearing and nothing else." Rose beamed, handing the lacy fabric to Lucy, pulling her to the dressing room, still in high spirits. She must be admiring her work.

Lucy stood in the dressing room, pulling the dress on, it was neither tight nor loose, and it fitted just right.

The white lace gown hugged her curves and complimented her makeup. She was pleased as she stood in front of the dressing room mirror, finally allowing her to really gawk at her own reflection. She wasn't looking like a teenager anymore, but more like an adult now.

"Lucy! Are you done?" Rose called from outside, feeling enthusiastic about her as well, in fact, she seem much more excited than the fake bride.

"Alright, I'm coming." Lucy opened the door, to be greeted by the spastic Rose, she was so happy, her smile were up to her ears. Rose hugged her tightly as Lucy murmured a 'thank you' to the 'Wedding planner' as known as Rose. Rose squealed in delight, "Natsu is getting ready as well, that damn guy was so hard to wake! Anyway, the wedding will take place in the east chapel."

"The east chapel?"

"The chapel that is just next to the palace. It's fine." Rose explained, "Alright, so when you reached, the wedding song will play and Natsu would be standing on the platform and you would be walking down the aisle with your 'father'."

Lucy squirmed in the mention of her father. She had missed him so much. Oh, how she wished he was here to see her wed! Then again, it is just a mission and a bogus marriage.

"Don't worry about your phony father, I have it planned." Rose whispered, "Anyway, I didn't tell the pastor your names, so he will just address you as 'Princess' and I don't know about Natsu…"

"Okay…" The carriage arrived right at that moment. Lucy was to get in followed by Rose, making their way to the east chapel. When they reached, Lucy was ready, Rose handed her a bouquet and motioned her to hold it in the middle as she walked. The blonde mage could feel butterflies in her stomach, breathing in and out in nervousness. Her nerves were playing tricks on her, how could a marriage function without the pastor's knowledge of their names?

Her bogus father was a man in his fifties. He had a hat on and light pale hair. Lucy stomach did a flip and a flop. She was guilty of walking the aisle with a stranger instead of her own father, but there wasn't a choice, her father was not in this world any longer. Lucy took a deep breath before the orchestra began playing.

Lucy linked her arms with her 'father' as the 'Wedding March' plays, the chapel doors opened and she strode, in her hands, she held the bouquet to her stomach tightly. Natsu was in his best behavior, his expression lively and exuberant. She smiled, as he darted his eyes nervously while he stood quietly on the platform.

She was a teeny bit disappointed that Natsu failed to react to her dress and make up, but of course she kept it to herself. It doesn't matter what he thinks anyway, he's never been that kind of person.

The white lacy veil around her head blocked out a clearer view of her best friend. It also makes the vision of the whole chapel translucent and shrouded.

At last, she reached the platform and her 'father' helped her up the platform where Natsu and the pastor were standing.

She stood nervously along with the rosy-haired dragon-slayer, and both the young Fairy tail mages turned to face the pastor. The pastor held the heavy book in his hands, before starting the marriage vows.

"Do you," The pastor stared straight at Natsu, he doesn't know Natsu's name, but he continued without hesitation, "young man, take the princess to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do you apart and here to pledge your faithfulness?

Natsu sniggered, "Princess?"

Lucy quickly slapped his arm lightly, "Stop playing!" She scolded, before giving a small smile to the pastor who was staring at her in bemusement. The guests who sat on the benches exchanged puzzled glances before turning back to the couple up front.

Natsu nodded, ignoring both Lucy and the Pastor, "I do." His cheeky smile still plastered on his face.

"Princess…" The pastor cleared his throat and proceeded to say the marriage vow for her.

"I do." Lucy's face went pink. She had said it, in eighteen years of age! Her expression dropped remembering that it was a fake performance. Besides, there is no way she would really marry Natsu in the future.

She lifted her left hand, allowing Natsu to slide the ring to her fourth finger. The diamond was moderate, nothing too flashy or glittery, she took an immediate liking to it.

Natsu's ring was just a silver band with the word 'Eternity' engraved on the insides. The ring was also engraved with intricate patterns, screaming the expensiveness of the metallic object.

"You may kiss the bride." The pastor announced bluntly.

"What?" Natsu scratched his head in bafflement.

"Just kiss me, you idiot!" Lucy hissed, infuriated by his puzzled look. Why can't he get that it's a mission and there is no harm-

"Alright," Natsu leaned towards her, "I never did this before, Lucy." He whispered, blushing crimson.

"I never did this either!" Lucy retorted in a hushed voice, shutting her eyes anxiously, grimacing at the thought.

Then, there it was, a light peck on her lips from Natsu. It wasn't awkward or anything. It was sweet, more like a friendship kiss.

Lucy's eyelids fluttered open, her cheeks were still red in colour. The once destructive and childish dragon slayer gave her a huge grin before turning around to face the crowd who was clapping. Lucy turned, giving a small smile before turning to wave her hands to the guests.

Her hands that were once trembling from the uneasiness, now relaxed and Natsu led her down the platform and they walked down the aisle once again. Rose was beaming in happiness, giving them two thumbs up from the back of the chapel. She went back and crossed her arms and stood behind coolly.

The crowd stood up to applaud them for a good marriage and a long life ahead. "Congratulations!", "Have a long and happy marriage!", "I wish to give you my blessings." Those are the words they were hearing throughout the whole day.

"Man, I wished Happy and the members back at Fairy tail were all here to see us," Natsu whispered to Lucy as they walked, "even Gray."

Lucy rolled her eyes jokingly, and stepped forward once they were outside the chapel, "I need to throw the bouquet now." She let go of her grip on Natsu's arm, allowing the guests to assemble properly, "Ready? One...two…three!" She turned her back and threw it as high as possible.

"You did awesome! I am so proud of you!" The maroon-haired woman ran towards them, her grin was as huge as a rainbow but a little unreadable as well, "You guys were so sweet up there, I could cry a river!"

"Excuse me," People were walking straight up the stairs, trying to give the 'Newlyweds' some blessings.

The day went on with Lucy and Natsu, being forced to drink by the guests.

"Princess, shall I pour some sake for you?" A man asked, tipping the sake bottle down Lucy's glass.

"Lucy, remember what happened the last time you drank sake?" Natsu nervously whispered to her.

"I remember that I went slightly crazy," Lucy mouthed slowly, "But, nothing too bad."

"Nothing too bad?" Natsu rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "You demanded a piggyback ride!"

"That's only cause you rejected my egg roll!"

"Okay, one glass, but I'm not carrying you back to the room!" Natsu huffed childishly.

"Alright, alright. You're so annoying."

"I miss Happy." Natsu suddenly muttered, thinking of his exceed companion.

"Go back to the guild yourself then." Lucy joked, smiling at him and downed her first glass of sake, "Is my face red?"

Natsu kept silent, there was alcohol everywhere and everyone wanted to offer Sake to the 'Groom'.

Not long after, Lucy was on her third glass of sake. Feeling drunk, she scanned the area for Natsu.

"Excuse me, but have you seen my husband?" She hiccupped, leaving the people around her table with their jaws wide open as she knocked chairs over with her clumsy stride.

"I've told you not to drink!" A strong arm caught her by her waist, Natsu stood behind her. She twisted around, staring at his serious eyes.

"I want a piggyback…" She slurred, "Natsu…"

"This is annoying…" Sweat beaded on the dragon slayer's forehead, bending down, he lifted Lucy, carrying her up in his arms, bridal style.

"Natsu! I want a piggyback ride!"

"You are annoying!"

Natsu held her back tightly, the celestial mage dropped her head back, but at least she was fully unconscious now.

"Natsu, your hands are warm…" She whispered as the dragon slayer breathlessly carried her back to their room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I am posting another chapter today since I really needed to get rid of the extra chapters. This is also one of the most important chapters (all Gruvia chapters are important, please note) and I hope you get where this story is going cause things are getting closer to the climax. I hope you enjoy this chapter (it is double chapters today anyway)! :D**

**Chapter 8.**

Walking through the bushes wasn't easy. The forest was vast and had no paths for anyone to walk, much less a place for hiking. The sun is setting and dusk will soon fall.

Juvia and Gray were still trying to make their way through the bushes without having any thorns on their sleeves. They weren't sweating, but their panting disclosed their exhaust.

Juvia was on the edge of collapsing since she seemed to be walking twelve feet behind Gray. She didn't have the energy to spill hearts and pour her feelings out. For one, Juvia was concentrating so hard on the quest that she even forgot that her crush was there with her. Which was a really sad thing that could ever happen to Juvia Loxar.

Suddenly, huge droplets of precipitation fell from the sky and were quick enough to drench the two mages. It began to pour, leaving the two mages stranded without any shelter.

"Is this your doing?" Gray narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his blue haired partner.

"No, no! Of course not!" Juvia waved her hands frantically, sweat too pouring down her face. She sighed. Sometimes he had doubts that didn't make any sense.

"So, what do we do?" Gray stared up at the dark and heavy clouds that had landed them into such an unfortunate situation, "I don't see any shelter, you know."

The rain did not affect Juvia, at all. In fact, she enjoyed it. This was one of the rare moments when it rains with Gray around. Usually, when Gray is around her, Juvia would always see the blue sky.

The fog had also built up within the forest and she was trying her hardest to squint her eyes in search for a cave or huge umbrella leaves they could use for shelter.

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Juvia asked instead to distract Gray for a teeny while.

"We are nowhere near Heron," Gray said, "It usually takes a few days."

"Do you see a cave?" Juvia ignored his previous comment and continued with distracting him. In actual fact, all she wants was to enjoy the natural rain. She had already decided to help Gray find a shelter and soon, she will be able to lie down under the fierce gray clouds that hung heavily with droplets of rain.

"I haven't, if I did wouldn't I be marching over there?" Gray pointed towards the fog to indicate 'there'.

Juvia looked over, the fog refused to clear up, but there must indeed be a cave right there where the fog had built up.

"Gray-sama! I think there's a cave right there!"

"Where, what?" The fog had started to clear up, but the only problem was, they knew that bears lived in caves and bears aren't the kind of mammals that liked peaceful negotiations.

Juvia trudged pass the ice mage, towards the fog that had already been clearing up. Gray followed her from behind since the fog was still blurring their surroundings. Damn all these thorny bushes, they wished that this forest wouldn't have any animals.

Juvia bumped onto something before they could even react and Gray followed after. The ice mage muttered a curse and looked up to see what the water mage had bumped onto.

"Gr-Gray-sama!" Juvia was looking up as well, "Th-this isn't a cave!"

Yes, it was metal rather than dirt and mud, it was huge, a building perhaps. It was hard to see, but no doubt it was a building. What was it doing here, hidden so densely in a forest? It made no sense.

The rain continued to pour.

They were too distracted to be shivering. Then again, they are both ice and water mages. It doesn't affect them in any way.

"Do you want to take a look inside?" Gray started to explore the side of the building, trying to find an entrance to it. It did not take long before he found a door and began pushing it with his might.

"Juvia thinks it's dangerous, Gray-sama." Juvia bit her lip. She was a little doubtful about the safety of barging into unknown territory. What if they get caught? She didn't want to think about it, but still it was rude if they didn't ask for permission.

"Oh, don't worry," The ice mage just shrugged, "we can always finish it with a fight."

"B-but…"

The ice mage went through the door before the blue haired could say anything. She hastily followed Gray before she gets lost.

The building isn't a place to live in. In fact, as soon as they stepped into the vast metal tower, all they saw was pitch black. It was hard to maneuver through an unknown place without knowing where to go or where the switches are.

The lights came on all of a sudden before the two even had time to react.

"Juvia!" Gray whispered, "Hide!"

Juvia nodded swiftly, before retreating behind one of the tables while Gray, who didn't have time to take note of what this place is, hid behind a counter.

A middle-aged man walked in, carrying a few chemicals into the room. Juvia was able to watch him from where she was hiding. The man was probably having trouble seeing since he seemed to be constantly knocking over glasses and some of the counters.

He murmured faintly, probably a curse, and left the room with the lights on. That was a close one. Juvia breathed and signalled to the ice mage that it was safe to come out.

Gray stood up and walked over to Juvia. It was indeed a laboratory full of chemicals and machines. So this was probably some scientist research corner of the lab, he thought.

"What could they be working on?" Juvia questioned, scanning the laboratory. The place was vast, and the ceiling was probably a few stories high. The lights here were exceptionally bright and the chemicals here were new and were all boiling in beakers.

"Probably just a forest research." Gray commented, "You know how scientists always do these kinds of things in weird places."

Juvia nodded in response, she wanted to leave but she was pretty sure that Gray had other plans, but she thought that they only had much time left before that middle aged man spots them playing around in his lab.

"Hey, this is really cool!" Gray wheezed his way to the front of the room. It was like a kids playground to him and all he does was keep that fascinated face on. Juvia wants to fangirl and enjoy exploring with Gray too, but all she could think about was Charles' expression when she had said that Natsu and Lucy were both in trouble.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia hollered from where she was at, "I think we have to go!"

Juvia was feeling a tad bit guilty about what they were doing right now. What if they got caught and trapped in a cell when Natsu and Lucy are in danger? That couldn't happen could it? She hoped not.

The ice mage wouldn't listen to the blue haired and instead was playing with some chair machine.

Juvia widened her eyes. There were two inclining chairs in front of the lab and they looked so familiar she wondered where she had seen them before. Gray wouldn't stop wondering about the chair and began to sit on it.

"Mode: 1, 2, 3." The chair machine spoke, "Miss Fleur, please indicate your code."

"Woah!" Gray smiled up in fascination, "This is seriously cool, Juvia! Come and try it!"

"I don't think-" Juvia tried to say, "Gray-sama, that thing is really dangerous!"

"No, no it's not!" Gray argued back but in a smiley face, he was seriously enjoying himself. What could Juvia say when her crush had such a precious face on? So she sat and waited for him.

"What do you kids think you are doing?" A loud voice bellowed into the room. The middle aged man that they had seen earlier pressed a red button next to him on the wall. Soon, the chair started to rumble violently and kicked the ice mage out of it.

Juvia stepped up and quickly caught the ice mage by the arms. The both of them stepped back so that they were facing the man.

"We were just looking around," Juvia waved her hands, trying to tell the man that they were not doing anything.

"I doubt it when I see the boy playing around on the chair," The man crossed his arms, "I don't hold back when I see trespassers, you know!"

"Oi, oi!" Gray spoke up, "We weren't doing anything dangerous here!"

The man had taken out two large swords and was already charging towards them, "For trespassing, you must pay!"

"Water slicer!" Juvia jumped up into the air and began to aim her powers at the man, but he blocked it with his swords and began to aim his right swords at the water mage.

"Juvia!" Gray called out as soon as he sees Juvia's body turning into water as the man had tried to hurt her with his sword.

"Juvia's body is made of water…" Juvia let the attack fall on her, "drip, drop."

"Ice make," Gray placed his right fist on his left palm, "Cage!"

An ice cage fell on top of the man and his swords fell onto the ground. Juvia quickly stepped back before the cage could fall on her as well.

"What?!" The man shouted, "You can't do this!"

"We are really sorry," Juvia quickly apologised and bowed lightly, "but we have to go."

Gray took her by her arms and dragged her out of the laboratory while the man banged roughly on the cage.

Once the both of them were outside, the fog had already been cleared up and the rain had finally stopped.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia quickly stopped the ice mage, "We are really going to leave him there?"

"Yeah,"

"But he won't have food or water!" Juvia turned her head to look at the building that they had just left, "That's a little cruel…" She muttered, careful not to let Gray hear her.

"He won't," The ice mage winked, "I used a special ice that will melt in a few hours,"

Juvia looked at the ice mage admiringly, "That's my Gray-sama!" She finally returned back to her old self, the hearts on her eyes were visible to anyone.

"Now, all we need to do is find a good place to sleep."

"Do you think there are caves anywhere in this forest?" Juvia followed her partner.

"Why are you saying things that Loke would say?" Gray raised an eyebrow, "Seriously, the both of you are really annoying sometimes."

"I was just asking…" Juvia murmured, a little hurt, but she knew that Gray was just joking. It's written on his face. Years and years of staring at Gray had made him easy to read for her.

They walked for a long time in search of a cave, and passed by signs that read 'Heron City' with an arrow pointing north and some signs that read 'Magnolia' with an arrow pointing south.

"Do you know how to make houses with leaves?" Gray asked, "or should I make an ice house?"

"An ice house is fine!" Juvia clapped her hands dreamily, it seemed like she was on the moon, or maybe she was just happy that they could finally rest and sleep. It had been a long day anyway.

The ice house was made in a flash with Gray's precious ice make skills. It was just a normal house that was made of ice, nothing too large and it fits nicely for two people.

Juvia was freezing when she got in, everything was made of ice and it didn't stop a sweat from falling down Juvia's head.

"It's probably a little too cold…" Juvia shivered and said to the ice mage.

"What is a little too cold?" Gray argued, "I don't feel anything!"

_That's because you are an ice mage._

The two of them laid down on the sleeping bag under the stars. Juvia had made Gray take down the ice house because no non-ice mages would be able to survive in there, and Gray had been sulking about it ever since.

"Oh, jeez. I thought that house was nice." Gray carried on with his whining, "I bet even Lyon couldn't do better."

"Alright, alright," Juvia gave him a guilty smile, "I asked you to take it down since the skies seemed nice tonight."

"Ey hey," Gray made a face, "you see the skies all the time back at home."

_It's really hard to make him feel better. _Juvia frowned, another sweat dripping down her forehead.

The sky above the forest was exceptionally beautiful and there were million of stars that night. Juvia wouldn't even have the chance to see such beautiful skies like that in her life. She was really tired, yes, but looking at the stars up in the skies made it possible for her to be awake for just a little while.

Gray was already snoring soundly next to her and she sighed, she was so happy to be with the person she likes but she was also worried about her guild mates at the same time. What an unlucky combination, she thought.

She turned on her side so that she could see Gray's sleeping face. Their faces were quite a distance apart. She wouldn't allow herself to lie so close to him. She thinks that watching him like this was fine with her.

She was always watching him from afar after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the support! I really appreciate all your awesome reviews. Alright, so this chapter is also extra important (climax) and will be more towards the 'adventure'/'suspense' genre since I want this story to quickly progress forward. Please bare with me, I swear the next chapter will be better! I love you guys, omg x3  
**

_**#GRUVIA IS PERF**_

**Chapter 9.**

Lucy couldn't breathe that night. It was terribly chilly, but the celestial mage was also sweating at the same time. Her body felt icky and she couldn't feel the warmth, like Natsu wasn't there with her.

It was already morning when Lucy fluttered her lids open only to realised that Natsu was on the floor, still in his suit and the blanket that they were supposed to share, over himself.

Yes, apparently only HE GOT THE BLANKET THAT NIGHT AND HE'S A FIRE MAGE FOR GOODNESS SAKE.

Lucy felt fury rush up her spine, before pulling the blanket roughly from the dragon slayer's body. Natsu was sent spinning and fell on the floor face first.

"HEY, ARE YOU MAD?!" Natsu sat up abruptly, rubbing his cheek and started arguing with the blonde mage.

"Why were you hogging the blanket?" Lucy continued bickering, "I was shivering right here!"

"But you had that dress to cover you up!" Natsu argued back.

Lucy looked at herself. Right, she was still wearing the wedding dress. Additionally, her head was throbbing really hard, she thought her brain was gonna fall out. She didn't want to argue with the irritating dragon slayer anymore, so she shuffled out of the bed.

"Why were you sleeping on the floor anyway?" Lucy asked, getting a glass of water for herself. Who knows walking around with such a heavy dress could be such a torturous journey.

"Huh," Natsu said, "Maybe that's cause you've gained some weight-"

Lucy's face turned dark instantly, "I've gained what?"

Natsu had three bruises on his head that morning.

**-x-**

The palace's corridors were lighted up brightly, but there wasn't any sign of Rose or a single soul in sight.

Both the mages had finished washing up and was looking forward to explore the castle and quickly find some clues about the princess. Lucy really wanted to finish the mission and leave this creepy place, and also to get the money to settle the rent once and for all.

After changing out of her wedding gown, she wore a chocolate long sleeve top and her usual skirt and knee length socks.

They couldn't hear anything from outside while they were both in the room.

"Psst," Lucy dragged Natsu behind a wall after taking a quick glance around the empty corridor. She took a deep breath before speaking, since she felt that it was finally safe to speak to Natsu about this strange palace. "Natsu, do you remember the day before the wedding?"

"Nah," Natsu waved his hands and shrugged without any emotion.

"ARE YOU EVEN TRYING!" Lucy yelled and kicked his shin, "Do you remember now?!"

"Oh, you mean that night when you cried?" The dragon slayer scratched his head and nodded before the blonde flares up again.

"Yes," Lucy snapped, "and you don't have to bring that up."

"What about that night?"

"Do you feel anything strange that night?" Lucy asked.

"You mean comforting you to sleep or generally?"

"Be serious!" Lucy burst out before a blush could creep up her neck, "I meant the palace, Natsu!"

"Oh actually, I felt my powers draining that night," Natsu shrugged and explained to the blonde mage.

"You felt your powers draining?" Lucy confirmed, she couldn't really trust his words so she became a little skeptical, "you really felt your powers-"

"But I felt fine once I woke up," Natsu replied, "Wait, are you interrogating me?"

"No, I was just asking, you know." Lucy rolled her eyes, "Anyway, this place seemed really creepy, don't you think?"

"Creepy?"

"Wait, you said that you felt your powers draining," Lucy stated, "But, do you know what I felt?"

"What?"

"I felt a flash of my greatest fears that night, all of them!"

"Maybe that could be a little creepy…"

"It might be connected to the princess," Lucy rubbed her chin and thought hard, "but Rose isn't here, so we absolutely have to hit the streets!"

**-x-**

Once the pair was out of the palace, Lucy began scrambling around for details. Of course she couldn't help it since she desperately wanted to leave this place, and investigating about the princess would guarantee that.

Heron City was a bustling town, very much like Magnolia and the ports don't have large ships, most probably because it was also quite an independent town.

Lucy had stopped just about ten people walking past to ask them about this town and the palace. She didn't try to make it too vague and personal, but most of them shrugged and refused to answer questions.

"Rude," Lucy muttered under her breath when another person ignored her and continued marching past.

Natsu was no help at all, since all he did was kick pebbles and drool over the food stalls until Lucy dragged him back.

"Sheesh, Luce. We have not eaten our breakfast yet." Natsu whined and yawned loudly after rubbing his growling stomach.

"Dango, dango!" An old woman yelled, "A stick for a hundred jewels!"

"Woah, Lucy!" Natsu gave her a wide smile, "Let's buy some dango!"

The blonde mage sigh and fished her purse out for some money. They bought two sticks and sat behind the old lady's stall, where the tables were.

She proceeded to discuss the things with Natsu about what she had managed to coax out from those poor people.

The population of mages in Heron is one percent and most of them don't use it in front of people. That's all. Lucy was a tad disappointed by her findings though.

"Hey, woman," A gruff voice commanded from in front of the dango stall, "I need some money, eighty thousand jewels."

The man who was standing in front of the dango stall was a huge, beefy man with dark unkempt hair and seemed to have not shaved his face for a few weeks. Lucy and Natsu could both smell the stench of alcohol emanating out from his mouth.

Lucy made a face, while Natsu maintained a confused expression as both of them watched the man demand for money from the aged stall owner.

"I'm really sorry, son, but this is all I have." The old woman managed to croak out, handing two hundred jewels over to her own son. Lucy recognised the two hundred to be theirs, from the two dango sticks that they had both just purchased.

"Don't give me that crap, lady!" The man bellowed and he proceeded to smash the wooden stand of the stall until it breaks, "hand it over now!"

The people of Heron walked past the dango stall without glancing at them. It seemed to be like something that they have been seeing almost everyday. No one came to the old woman's aid, so Lucy felt a pang of anger and hatred towards those heartless people, but then she remembered that they also didn't have magic to protect themselves or even intervene.

Lucy's eyes were brimming with tears. How could he do this to his own mother? She was almost ready to stand up against this man for the poor old woman, but a hand pushed her down.

Lucy turned to stare at the dragon slayer who was next to her, "Lucy, I've got this."

Natsu's eyes were flaring as soon as he stood and marched up to the front of the stall where the man was still banging his fists on the wooden stand.

"Hey," Natsu called.

"Huh," The man stopped hitting the stand and turned to him, "What do you want, kid?"

"Just wanted to let you know," Natsu cracked his knuckles, "the taste of fire hurts." He pulled back his fist and pulled a salamander's claw on him, aiming at the man's abdomen.

The weight of the man was enough to puncture a hole in the wall of the bar opposite the stall. He laid smack in the middle of cracked tables and broken beer glasses. Lucy stood up with a hand over her mouth. She wanted to hug Natsu and thank him a hundred times. For once, she had actually begun to respect Natsu Dragneel. A lot.

The old woman was staring wide eyed at both the dragon slayer and her son, probably wondering whether to feel a little relieved that her son had stopped harassing her for money or whether Natsu's attack was a little impromptu.

"Okay, you win, woman." Her son stood up groggily, dusting the dirt from his pants, "But don't think you will get away with this!"

He sped up and wobbled away from the scene. All was well again. The people stopped watching and began walking back to where they had started.

The old woman still had an unreadable face on, but as soon as Lucy walked up to her to see what went wrong, the old woman collapsed onto the floor.

"Granny!" Lucy quickly rushed to hold the old woman's frail hands once she fell, and Natsu hurried over to help his blonde partner.

"Oh crap, that attack must've been quite a shock to her." Natsu said as soon as they carried the old lady over to a wooden bench for her to lie down on.

"I don't understand," Lucy bit her lip, "we did her a favour!"

"But it was her son that I had used my powers on." Natsu shrugged and turned away from Lucy.

"Really," Lucy huffed, she was feeling a little guilty about her son as well, but they had to see justice done.

The old woman lay still without stirring. Lucy was a little paranoid about it and had timed herself to check her heartbeat every five minutes. She had placed a soft cushion below the woman's head and was squeezing a hot towel before using it on the aged lady.

Surprisingly, the old woman's forehead was really hot. There was too much heat to be exact and it felt a little peculiar that the heat soon died down after a few seconds.

Lucy grabbed her hands and they felt as hot as fire, almost like Natsu's fire. Lucy kept it to herself. She will discuss this with Natsu soon.

Lucy had forced Natsu out to tend the stall even though he claimed that he didn't want to, but he didn't have a choice since he was partially the cause of the ruckus outside as well as the hole on the wall. The bar owner wasn't very happy, but he let this slide for once.

There were mild coughs coming out from that old lady once Natsu came in after a few hours of tending the stall and the two mages rushed over to her.

"Granny!" Lucy helped her up, "Are you feeling fine?"

The old lady grunted, "Ugh, not after your husband punched my idiotic son."

Natsu stepped forward, "He deserved it, and she's not my-"

Lucy quickly stepped on the dragon slayer's foot before he could continue, "We are, we are…" She stopped and nodded to herself, "wedded actually."

Lucy turned to Natsu and gave him a dark face, "Remember?" She mouthed.

"Oh, yes we are!" Natsu scratched his head, "I think we've done it before."

"Done what?" The old woman was eying him.

"Done nothing! Nothing at all!" The blonde quickly dismissed the woman's misunderstanding before turning to Natsu. Lucy's face scrunched up in shock and bafflement, and probably a little pinch of disgust as she eyed the dragon slayer, "What a perverted prick!" She shivered.

"Alright, I don't want you two love birds corrupting my business," The old woman ordered, "now pack up and leave."

"We've helped you, we just want to find out more things about this city!" Lucy said.

"And what is it you want to find out?" The old woman raised a wary brow.

"About the ruler of this kingdom, and I heard about the prin-"

"No, I won't help you kid," The old lady pointed to the exit, "now, leave."

"But-"

"Ach!" The aged woman clutched her heart, before letting out a series of coughing fits right after and was beginning to cough up a lot of blood onto the floor.

"Natsu help!" Lucy rushed to the floor to help the woman up again, "Get some towels and search for her medicine, hurry."

The old lady accepted the towel and medicine once she had comfortably sat on the bench, "I'm really sorry child, but my heart is a little unstable right now."

"That's fine," Lucy hurriedly gave her a glass of water, "drink up and rest."

"You know, this city holds a lot of secrets and over the years, it had only been building up." The old lady cautiously sipped her water while she explained, "I don't think words alone will help to explain how dangerous this city actually is."

"Dangerous?" Lucy's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"The palace, the people in the palace and even the ruler of this city hold a secret. You just don't see them." Then she added, "Yet."

The lady stood up and shuffled towards the kitchen and requested for Natsu to gather more wood for their stove when she could only find left over wood in the cupboard.

"Would you tell me more?" Lucy hastily asked once Natsu had left, "I must kno-" but stopped before she could disclose her identity.

"The secrets are supposed to be known among the people of Heron," The old lady washed her hands, "It isn't supposed to be told to people outside."

The lady stood up and insisted that she was already fine and was able to walk.

Lucy pouted and started peeling vegetables from the kitchen basket, the old lady asked Lucy whether she minded preparing a small dinner for the three of them and Lucy had no choice but to follow the old woman's orders.

They were still cutting when-

"So, that boy you were with," The old lady asked, "is he really your husband?"

Lucy didn't want to lie to the old woman, since she felt that she was one of the people that she thinks she can trust.

"Not really…"

"Dating? Your fiance?"

"Nothing like that either!" The blush on the blonde's face was getting redder, "what makes you think that we are an item, anyway?"

"Oh you know, I can feel the balance of personalities and nature from the both of you," The old woman said, "The both of you balance each other well, I believe. I am also guessing that you forgot that the both of you are wearing rings on your fourth fingers."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about the rings," Lucy muttered in defeat and nodded her head, keeping her eyes on the vegetables that she was cutting, "but we're just really close friends."

"Really?" The old woman said, "That's a waste really. I saw the way you looked at him."

"What way?" Lucy was starting to feel her heart palpitating and heat creeping up her body, "I don't like him that way you know. I think he already has someone he likes."

"Oh, and does she look at him the way you do?" The old lady asked and looked out the window, "people don't usually realise what they've got until it is taken away from them."

_That's crazy, all Natsu does was annoy her and he never had dreams about her in comparison to his many dreams about Lisanna. Remember, he had also been waiting for her his whole life. Lisanna was the one who he had spent his time with all the time even before she had stepped in._

_So, knock it off, Lucy Heartfilia. Natsu is just a friend. A very close friend. _

"Nope, you've got it all wrong." Lucy took a deep breath, "He's just a friend." She felt a little numb when she said that, probably she was already used to denying it when Levy or Erza had asked her whether she and Natsu are going out.

"Alright deary," The old woman muttered, "Come on, I'll teach you how to make a lunch box."

**-x-**

"So, you want to know more about the kingdom?" A beggar with a tooth gap in front of a weapon stall asked the blonde mage. It seemed like the owner of the weapon stall had asked him to tend the stall while running some errands.

"Yes-"

"Fifty thousand jewels for the story and another fifty thousand jewels for the book of Heron." The tooth gap beggar said, "I am a homeless woman, I don't care whether the kingdom wants my head or not. I just want some money and I am willing to sell these secrets."

"The book of Heron you say?" Lucy eyed the beggar suspiciously, "Where is it?"

"Ah, actually fifty thousand jewels is for me to disclose the location of the book." The beggar pointed out.

"What a rip-off!" Natsu's hands were in flames, "Tell us or we'll go crazy!"

"Alright, alright, twenty-five thousand?" The beggar swayed her hands.

"Ten thousand?" Lucy tried.

"Twenty." The beggar said.

"Really?" Lucy and Natsu's eyes brightened, "Twenty jewels? Thank you!"

"Twenty thousand, you idiot!" The beggar roared.

"Jeez, what a rip-off!" Lucy folded her arms and huffed, "We'll just ask someone else."

"If you're looking for information about the kingdom, maybe I can help." A man had walked towards the weapon shop, guessing that it might be the owner, "I don't need the money anyway and it isn't like the palace is functioning enough to catch the people of Heron if word gets out."

"Damn it, Rick." The beggar accepted a note from the man and crossed her arms, "You're stealing my customers."

"Not functioning?" Lucy ignored the beggar and cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes," The man said, "Many of us have different accounts of Heron City, and I heard it from someone who was actually there during the sentencing of the princess."

"The sentencing of what princess?" Lucy and Natsu stepped forward in unison, surprised by his words.

"Alright, this is my account of the story. It might not be true since I heard it from a friend."

The people from other stalls are coming closer together to hear his version of the story as well since they might just be doing it out of curiosity.

"Alright," The man breathed, "A few years ago, when both the king and queen of Heron passed on, Heron City was in chaos. Travellers from all over the world came to settle down both legally and illegally. It was also possible that few of them were wizards. Since Heron was a wizard free country in the past, it did not take long before normal humans came to respect and worship those wizards who had came to settle down.

"More and more wizards were also nominated to be the next queen, so at last there were three women being nominated to be the next ruler of Heron. The three of them were all young women and caught the eye of the public. Among the three, two were wizards while one of them was just a normal human being. Of course the two wizards were winning the public's vote and the human was neglected and ignored."

"So how many of you were there during the nomination?" Lucy asked the man who had paused for a while.

"All of us were, it was a compulsory event." The man gestured to the stall owners who had all gathered around to hear the story, "I still remember their names, Princess Belle, Princess Saren-"

"I remembered that one of the princess was fair headed," A woman among the stall owners quipped, "She was the human one, I believed."

The man nodded at her words.

"Alright sorry, let me continue. So, right before the big coronation day, word got out that one of the princesses had gone missing. It was one of the wizards. Then a few hours before the nomination, another one of the princess had written a suicide note and guess what?"

"What?"

"It was from one of the wizard princess as well. So it all falls down to one princess, and it was the human one who got the title of 'Queen'. However, the magic council got wind of the issue and went to the Heron palace to check. They arrested and sentenced the new Queen to the dungeon for a few months, and from what I've heard they think that she was the one who had masterminded all of those 'unexpected happenings'."

"When the Queen was released by the council, the council had made sure to strip the title off her. It seemed that she was doing something dangerous and illegal but rumours had it that she was in fact, actually a dark wizard and didn't disclose the information until the council took her away.

"One day, she had a huge brawl with a fellow human on the streets, but the location was close enough to the palace. There was fire everywhere. We thought that they were giving their all. Nobody really saw what happened since all the witnesses were burnt to death. The ex-princess vanished after that day."

"Wait, wait…so what's the deal about the princess who ran away?" Lucy blurted out, but it was too late.

"The run-away princess?" The man furrowed his brows and stared at the blonde mage quizzically, "You mean the ones who had disappeared without a trace a few years ago?"

"No, I meant the one who eloped a week ago." Lucy reconfirmed.

"What?" The man asked, "I am positive that we didn't have a royal to rule our city for a few years now."

"Huh?" Natsu snapped up and stared at the man, "Heron haven't had a princess since a few years ago?"

"So the princess hadn't announced her marriage to the public a week ago?!" Lucy stood up so abruptly that she knocked over a metal cup from the table.

"Marriage?" The man looked around at his fellow stall mates, and all of them had the same muddled look. One look was all it takes to know the answer.

Lucy tightened her eyes and glowered at the palace a few hundred metres away from them.

"Rose."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I am so so so so so x1000000 sorry! This update took too long. It's been a really busy January for me, I have results and all that stuff going on (Semi-occupied with EXO too) plus, my driving license ugh. Alright, back here. This is like a filler chapter too and I hope this is not too OOC! Sorry in advance for any mistakes! I hope you don't give up on me :( I will still love all of you anyway! x3**

**Chapter 10.**

Lucy was pacing back and forth once the two mages were back into their room.

"I can't believe Rose lied to us!" Lucy paced again, crossing her arms in anger, "Where the hell is she?"

Natsu lay on the bed, staring closely at his blonde partner who had a face redder than a tomato. Yeah, a tomato with smoke coming out from both ears.

"I knew that there was something wrong with the plan as soon as she said that we needed to do the fake marriage and conceal our marks," Lucy complained, "And what kind of palace stays so empty and creepy?"

Natsu sat up and frowned, "Listen, I know that you're mad-"

"MAD?" Lucy burst out, "I'M MORE THAN MAD!" Her face went red, but she calmed down a little when she heard a humiliating growl from her stomach, "and hungry…"

Natsu's stomach growled shortly after, "Me too…"

Lucy snapped her fingers and winked, "I learnt how to make a lunch box today," Lucy completely forgot about the situation and became ecstatic about finally being able to cook for her best friend.

"Ooh, a lunch box?" Natsu widened his eyes, "Are you sure about not burning the kitchen down?"

"Keep those comments to yourself!" Lucy pointed a pan at his face, "You're lucky that I even agreed to cook for you!"

Natsu kept shut but opened his mouth again, "Will it be better than Juvia's?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You know, you are giving me a lot of pressure after saying that." Lucy sighed in defeat before gritting her teeth.

Natsu sat and waited by the little table at the corner of the room as Lucy prepared the meal, "Say, Lucy what do you think about the old lady we met this morning?"

"What about her?"

"Do you sense any powers from her?" Natsu asked and Lucy almost dropped the wooden spoon from her hands.

"N-no." Lucy trembled a little, "Look, I need to discuss something with you, but you must not say it in front of Rose. We can't trust her anymore."

Lucy came back to the table with two bowls of what she calls 'exactly made to look like a lunch box'. Lucy can't cook, but the lunch box looked good to Natsu.

"You know, about the old woman today," Lucy shivered, "She had this power in her, I don't feel anything but there was heat in her body-"

"You mean like a fire mage?" Natsu had begun to dig in, "Fire mages usually have heat in their body."

"Yes, probably a fire mage." Lucy rubbed her chin and thought, "Maybe she is a wizard."

"I knew I sensed something familiar from her," Natsu said in between bites.

_The palace, the people and even the ruler of this city hold a secret. You just don't see them yet._

Was this what the lady meant when she said that everyone in Heron held a secret? Lucy might actually be able to solve this.

"You know, when we were little, Lisanna made me a lunch box too." Natsu said after gulping down a glass of water, "It was the nicest I've ever tasted then."

Lucy's heart tightened, what was he trying to say? That her lunch box cannot be compared to Lisanna's?

Lucy felt hurt, but maintained her composure, "Really?"

"Yeah, she continued making lunch boxes even after Happy was born you know." Natsu grinned at the memory like a little boy thinking about his toy collection at home, "but yours-"

"Stop." Lucy placed a hand over his mouth, "Stop, I just want to…" She was paranoid about what Natsu was going to say, she was afraid that she wasn't going to be an ideal best friend to anyone and it would just prove that she is the weakest in the team. She removed her hand from his mouth and Natsu stared at her in perplexity.

_Just like a family. _Lucy thought._ What a lucky family. Natsu, Happy, Lisanna. What a happy family. _Lucy couldn't think straight.

_Did I barge into their happy life?_ The questions kept coming.

"Why," Lucy tried to say but stopped herself, was she the person who had stepped in to ruin their happy life? She didn't want that and why did Natsu even bring up that matter? She felt so guilty that she lost her appetite.

"You know what, Natsu?" Lucy stood up dejectedly, "I think…I think…" She sighed, "I'm going to bed first."

"But you haven't ate yet!" Natsu gestured to the untouched bowl.

"I will eat it tomorrow," Lucy covered her whole body under the blanket, "Go to sleep."

_I'm sorry Natsu, but right now I am just being an overly jealous teenage prick. I will be fine tomorrow._

Natsu rubbed his head and kept the lunch box in the oven, before turning in for the night.

**-x-**

Lucy could feel herself squirming as everybody laughed at her face.

"What an ugly daughter you have, Layla."

"What do you have such a useless team mate in your team, Natsu?"

"You just brought shame to Fairy Tail…"

"Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy jerked up with a start. She was sweating buckets and her stomach growled once. She remembered that she hadn't eaten yet. She looked down to see that Natsu was gripping her hand tightly while they slept. She felt a faint blush but nothing too serious to actually get a little dreamy about that little gesture. Lucy quickly pulled her hand away before sliding down the bed, to look for the lunch box that she had prepared before.

Surprisingly, when she walked to the sink, she saw two washed bowls there. Natsu ate another serving? She thought he liked Lisanna's one better. Maybe Natsu ate Lucy's lunch box out of pity.

She felt a little moody again and her heart tightened, she never felt like this. This is way too strong for jealousy, this is a different feeling, but she is also confident that this has nothing to do with romantic feelings for Natsu.

No, she knows that she doesn't like him _that_ way, so she is probably just envious of his white-haired childhood best friend.

Lisanna is so perfect, so pretty and she actually seemed perfect for Natsu.

Lucy squirmed at the thought. When she closed her eyes, she thought she saw Natsu catching her when she had deliberately leaped from the tower of Phantom Lord. She thought of how he'd abandoned his position at the Grand Magic Games just to find her. What a great best friend.

Lucy was suddenly hoping that they could be more than friends. She slapped the thought away.

No.

She didn't want to experience unrequited love.

Natsu laid snoring in his sleep, but Lucy hoped that he would not punch her while he was asleep ever again. So she kept her distance.

"Lisanna…" Natsu muttered.

Lucy bit her lip. She admitted that she was a little hurt, but not hurt enough to actually feel her heart breaking. She was strong. Natsu is just a best friend.

Lucy instinctively took Natsu's hand as she sat by him in the dark. His hand was warm and it actually warmed her heart. She liked that feeling. A lot.

She changed her position and continued to lie down in the dark just right beside Natsu. She didn't want to let go of his hand. Unfortunately. But this just made Lucy feel right and not hurt or jealous.

She was all right. If Natsu will be happy with Lisanna in his team or whatever. Lucy didn't mind as long as Natsu is happy. It wasn't her type of character to even bother, Erza had been extremely close with Natsu as well and it didn't bothered Lucy one bit.

Lucy decided that she'd just become Natsu's best friend and stay by his side. She didn't mind at all, just that she had hoped that he wouldn't forget her so easily and always put his family first, even if the girl was to be Lisanna. She knows that Natsu and Lisanna will be exceptionally blissful together.

She blushed a bright crimson red. One that she had never and probably never would have happened again, before she tugged on Natsu's hand.

_Let me enjoy this, Natsu. _

_Don't leave me so soon. _

This was the only time where she could get a closer look at Natsu and this actually felt more normal than ever rather than Natsu pulling on his stupid questioning look and that vexing gaze of his when Lucy ever tried to ask him any questions that are personal.

Suddenly, Natsu's hands tightened around Lucy's and the blushes just kept creeping into Lucy's body until she almost seemed to be red and all puppy-eyed. She cannot believe she is doing this and is going all green because of Lisanna.

This cannot be happening.

Lucy just couldn't believe one thing that night.

She felt like a butterfly.

She felt like she was on cloud nine.

Maybe she was slightly in love.

Natsu gripped her hand tighter and she could feel it again. Her stomach became all jittery and the butterflies are going crazy.

Yep. Definitely.

**Author's Note: I like Lisanna. I am also not bashing her, I just want to let Lucy be a little jealous and protective for once.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Oh my gosh. I am on the roll! I would certainly like some reviews, since this is the last Gruvia chapter of the story, I had to make it long and perfect. I don't know whether all of you prefer the Gruvia chapters or the Nalu chapters. So, you can just drop a review about your preferred pairing. Hehe x3 I will try to take them all and (hopefully) add more of them in this fanfic! Thank you so much for staying and sticking with me! Love you guys x3**

**Chapter 11.**

The town was bustling with people when Gray and Juvia reached Heron port. They were both hungry and probably a little dirty after groping around dry leaves and thorny bushes.

The pair decided to drop off at a local bar. Juvia didn't drink (except for occasional sake) and Gray only drank during huge and grand occasions. Juvia was a former element four member and when she had sensed something weird and fishy, she wasn't hesitant to tell her ice partner.

"Gray-sama, do you sense it?"

Gray couldn't feel it though. The magic. It was dark.

"I can't sense anything," Gray pulled the menu from the underneath the utensils as soon as they both slid into a booth, "What do you feel like eating?" He asked the water mage and pretended that nothing had happened. It was odd that Gray wasn't aware about such strong magic, dark magic even. Nevertheless, the water mage did not want to cajole him about this. If he couldn't sense it, it's fine as long as Juvia could.

Juvia thought for a while after scanning the menu, "Sake?"

"No sake!"

Gray had a headache when he remembers the time Juvia, Lucy, Levy and Wendy all became drunk that night at the hot springs. He almost had a nightmare. Because to Gray, being responsible for a drunken water mage is not his idea of accomplishing the mission.

Juvia thought for a moment before saying, "Hmm…basic breakfast set?"

"It's night!" Gray rubbed his temples in frustration as Juvia continued to order food that didn't sound right, either that or she was just in a different time zone.

Juvia had a very concerned look on her face, so after she was done ordering, the water mage quickly looked around frantically before leaning her face closer to Gray's. Juvia could feel it. It almost felt like the entire island was cursed with dark magic. It was one that she felt uncomfortable around with. Even the magic used in Phantom lord weren't that 'evil' – Well, except probably only Master Jose did – Juvia shuddered at the event where she had to face the wizard responsible for such wicked powers. She hoped not. The blue-headed fingers were clenched underneath the table under much pressure.

"Gray-sama," Juvia whispered to her ice partner as soon as she stopped over-thinking, "There seemed to be a lot of dark magic here, don't you think?"

"Dark magic?"

Juvia nodded, "It's like the entire city is surrounded by it," she stopped and continued to describe the feeling, "It's the type of magic that gives your mind the creeps."

"Hey, didn't Phantom Lord's master Jose use that magic too?" Gray recalled finally, although he couldn't feel it, he'd heard about it before, "It's called 'Fear Dreams'."

"You've heard of it?" Juvia said, "Juvia have been in Phantom Lord long enough to detect strong and powerful dark magic like this."

"Odd, I can't feel it though." Gray wondered out loud, he felt strange that he couldn't. Everyone didn't seem to feel it. He scanned the restaurant. The bar was filled with people chugging whiskey down their throats without a care in the world, and without knowing that a dangerous type of magic called 'Fear Dreams' had already engulfed the entire city.

"That is probably because you need to be a dark mage once in your life to feel 'Fear Dreams." Juvia explained, clearing Gray's cloud of thoughts.

Their food came after just talking like this for at least fifteen minutes.

"You mean people who are not dark mages cannot feel it?" Gray dug in quickly. The aroma of the grilled fish wafted around their booth. After surviving on inedible herbs and raw fishes, it was great to be eating something nice again.

"Correct, good mages won't feel it, but they will be affected by it." Juvia raised a cup to her mouth as she downed a full glass of water. Her mouth was literally watering due to the delicious food placed in front of them, that is, until the people seated at a booth behind them started talking. Juvia placed her left ear close to the back rest, inhaling every word spoken by whoever it was.

"Hey," A husky voice spoke, "You know about Miss Fleur,"

Juvia inhaled deeply, _Miss Fleur?_

"Oh, you mean that human princess nominee from a few years ago?" Another man slurred.

"They say, if you are a dark wizard, you can feel the spell that she had casted onto the island," The first man whispered, and it was loud enough for only Juvia to hear. Gray had to make a questioning look towards Juvia while the water mage did the eavesdropping.

"She's just hopeless," The man slurred again, "I've never seen her after the day of the fire. I thought she burned to death," Juvia could hear him take another swig of alcohol. She frowned, the crease on her forehead delving deeper into her skin as she concentrated on their words.

"She's back actually," The first man said, "I don't give a damn bout' this kinda stuff but it actually feels strange-"

"Johann?" The other man had on a sick voice, and it was the kind of throaty sound that Natsu makes when he was about to hurl, "I think I'm gonna- BLEUGH!"

Juvia hurriedly stopped eavesdropping and turned towards the ice mage who has already finished his food, he must be so hungry… Juvia eyed the plate in front of her, her grilled fish had been left untouched, but the lemons at the side had already been squeezed.

"Gray-sama…"

"Are you gonna eat that?" Gray interrupted the water mage and pointed quickly to her plate.

"Um, you can have it if you…want-" Juvia stopped as Gray picked up the plate and started digging in.

"Then I won't excuse myself." He began wolfing down every mouthful of rice and fish into his throat, "Sorry, I tend to prioritise my stomach first in this situation."

"You know what I've heard?" Juvia leaned closer as Gray poked a tiny slice of grilled fish with his fork and was offering it to Juvia who seemed dead serious at the moment.

"Come on, eat up," The ice mage smiled, "you've worked hard."

"Gray-sama!" Juvia pushed Gray's hand away lightly, "This is really serious!" Normal Juvia would accept the fish and the opportunity to be fed by Gray-sama in a heartbeat, but this time, since Gray had not heard the conversation from the two men, he didn't know how grave the situation was right here in Heron.

"That bad?"

"No- I mean, yes, it is that bad," Juvia quickly whispered to the ice mage, "The situation here, not the fish actually."

"What about the situation?"

"The entire city is cursed with 'Fear Dreams' and both Natsu and Lucy will be in danger if we don't hurry!"

"What did you hear just now?" Gray was still a little skeptical about all this.

"Do you find 'Miss Fleur' a little familiar?" Juvia eyed Gray and he quickly reached for his cup while he thought about the name, "Do you remember hearing it anywhere?"

_Miss Fleur, please indicate your code._

"Of course, the machine from that lab said it, didn't it?" Gray snapped his fingers and gulped a mouthful of plain water down his throat. Juvia didn't have any appetite. She'd rather get on with the case since they were so close to finding out about the princess.

Gray attempted to feed Juvia the slice of grilled fish again. This time the water mage ate it slowly in one bite. The woman who was tending the bar said, "Aw, what a sweet pair." Juvia went very crimson at that comment, but she try not to lose her focus towards the mission.

"Well, apparently, 'Miss Fleur' is the name of the princess the quest had instructed us to find," Juvia clicked her fingers after the blush on her cheeks died down, "and she's back."

Gray almost spat his water out.

**-x-**

"Shhh…" Gray hissed at the water mage, "The both of them must be in here." He tapped the walls of the palace. There weren't any guards guarding the doors and no one had even spared the palace a glance.

"Juvia can still feel it," The water mage whispered, "The curse seemed to be stronger over here."

"We must sneak into the palace in some way." Gray crept behind the palace where a tiny stone door remained tight and cemented securely to the bricks, "Come on, Juvia!"

"Gray-sama, wh-what are you doing?" She whispered but it came out like a stutter instead, "We can't get caught."

Gray had managed to break the tiny door down with his ice and the both of them had to creep in slowly since it was really dark. Juvia grabbed the back of Gray's shirt as he led the way.

Sweat trickled down from Juvia's forehead since it seemed like the dark path into the palace was never ending. Gray did not flinch and continued to crawl in. The night wasn't young anymore. It was almost midnight. Maybe it was already midnight. The two mages wouldn't know.

Juvia tried to clear her mind and focus, but she was also blushing at the thought that she was pulling onto Gray's shirt (and crawling right behind him)!

"Focus, Juvia!" She whispered to herself as she continued crawling.

"Oh and what do we have here?" A woman's voice boomed through the dark room. She had a slightly hoarse voice and venom oozing out of her words.

"Crap, we got caught!" Gray cursed softly, "Juvia, I will stop her, you go and look for Natsu and Lucy." They couldn't see clearly and had to wait for the lights to light up at once.

Juvia couldn't comprehend, maybe it was due to the darkness or the astonishment that came when the both of them were caught off-guard while creeping in. Of course, she wouldn't leave her beloved Gray-sama here alone to fend whoever this woman was. She did not want to move though.

"I will fight her, just go." The water mage was surprised it came out from her own mouth.

"Y-you!" Gray tried to say, but he couldn't bear to chide her now. One of them had to go and no matter what Gray says, Juvia will not budge. She is that stubborn, "Alright, be safe…"

Juvia tried to smile at his reluctance to go, "Okay…"

Gray tried to find her hand in the darkness, and once he found it, he gave it a little squeeze.

Juvia's heart fluttered for a moment, "Go, I'll be fine."

-x-

Gray had sped away and the room was now brightened by fire. The flame that was burning at the end of the woman's staff had allowed Juvia to dimly make out the features on her face.

The woman had bright yellow hair, very much like Lucy's and a veil that covered half of her face. However, despite all this, she was tanned and stunning. Juvia was a little taken aback at the amount of dark magic this woman can actually produce.

"Miss Fleur," Juvia quickly said, "You don't want to do this."

"You recognised me?" Miss Fleur was looking at the water mage like venom, "you are like the rest!" She shouted, "Useless Heroners, all nothing but a bunch of name calling crazies!"

But before Juvia could react, a dark shadowed hand had began to whiz its way to grab Juvia by the neck, "I've been a…dark mage for a long time…" The water mage choked, "I…know…how you…feel."

"You don't!" Miss Fleur gasped, "You don't even looked like a dark mage!"

"I was…" Juvia was lifted up and floating with the shadowed hand still around her, "until…he saved me…" Her hands trembled violently, almost at the verge of death. The force from the hand was so strong, that the whites from Juvia's eyes were beginning to take over her pupils.

The shadowed hand threw the water mage against a solid brick wall, the wall collapsed as soon as Juvia's body smashed against it. Dirt and debris clouded the water mage's sight soon after her body had crashed into the wall.

Electric currents made their way up Miss Fleur's nerves and the veins at her head were beginning to beat violently. Miss Fleur clutched her head in agony. The blood palpitated in her body and a mark shot up her wrists. Miss Fleur clasped her wrists and fell onto the ground in pain.

"That's…the consequences of…" Juvia gasped for air as she sat in the middle of the rubble, "using too much of 'Fear Dreams'…"

"What do you know?!" Miss Fleur screeched, "I-I-"

"You don't have anymore magic," Juvia got up, "I can tell."

Miss Fleur got up, "I will have it, soon!" The veil on her face dropped onto the ground as soon as a huge gust of wind swept the entire room into a mess. She was generating a vast amount of power. Things are going to get even more awful, but Miss Fleur's face had effectively explained her tragic past.

Juvia could not stifle back a gasp. Half of Miss Fleur's face was red with veins popping out at every angle, a burnt disaster, but not 'normal flame' burnt. It seemed like a powerful dark fire wizard had burned her.

The power from Miss Fleur is enormous.

Unfortunately, it had successfully sucked Juvia in.

**-x-**

"Natsu!" Gray was running around the hallway of the palace, "Lucy!"

_The power of 'Fear Dreams' affects good mages by giving them hallucinations. During 'Fear Dreams' everything will be blocked out and they would probably fall into a deep slumber._ Juvia had explained this at the bar before.

"Don't fall asleep, you idiots!" Gray hollered to nobody in particular anyway. His mind wandered off to Juvia. Does she need help? Because from the looks of that veiled woman, she seemed strong.

Gray ran passed the many hallways in the palace only to find one door with slippers right outside. Gray knocked on the door softly. He couldn't hear anything. He had started to lose his patience when there came no reply or even a sleepy Natsu unlocking the door. He tried to turn the brass knob once. It was locked. He had to break it down somehow, like the brick door at the first storey. If only the door didn't have a rune around it, then maybe he could.

"Wake up!" Gray knocked vigorously. It was tiring, trying to wake two sleeping mages up from outside. He wished he had stayed behind with Juvia and at least try to fight that veil woman. However, once he found his legs, it was impossible to turn back.

Gray could feel the presence of the water mage standing right behind him so he turned around slowly. He did not want to make any more mistakes. The person right in front of him isn't really Juvia. This girl had a different aura. A darker mage this time compared to the one he had fought earlier.

The veiled woman stepped behind 'Juvia' and began to cackle evilly, "I'm done cleansing the memories of this girl. Now, she's just my personal assistant and I am putting her in-charge of defeating you. Oops, maybe even _killing_ you."

The veiled woman disappeared and Gray rushed forward to attack her instead, but he was pulled down by Juvia's water hook. The ice mage was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the idea of fighting Juvia. He didn't want to fight, much less hurt her in any way. He was starting to feel like he 'liked' her, as a friend of course, and had begun to dismiss the fact that she was a mere 'stalker' to him. Juvia had almost all the traits a perfect girl has. The problem lies on her possessiveness. But every living thing has their flaws. Gray had already learnt to accept that.

Juvia pulled another attack on the ice mage, but he'd just dodged her attacks and tried to convince her. He decided that he would not hurt her, since it was supposed to be the man's job to protect his partner during a quest. Especially when his partner is the person who had treated him like a gem all this while, and if Gray wanted to repay all the mistakes – where he had treated Juvia with hostility every single time she'd done something nice for him – he decided that he was going to release the spell from her without hurting her.

"Juvia," Gray leaped up and recovered quickly from her water attack, also using his quick reflexes to dodge another, "It's Gray, don't you remember me?" He had to start from the basics.

Juvia ignored him, and continued spraying water bullets towards the ice mage's direction. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, probably because her mind and heart is empty. Empty, without Gray or any of her nakamas in there. It was difficult adjusting to this side of Juvia that even Gray had problems.

In Juvia's mind, it was all about ridding that man from the face of the earth, if only he wasn't so garrulous and meddlesome. She hadn't seen him before, so why was he acting like he'd knew her all his life? The woman from back there had told her to kill him or she would suck her life away. That would end up in a tragic misfortune. Juvia needs to kill him or she won't get her life back.

Gray continued to shout for Juvia's attention, "Your name is Juvia Loxar, and you are here on a mission with me, Gray Fullbuster!"

"What do you want from me?" Juvia couldn't help but retort back, "Just let me kill you peacefully!"

"I just want Juvia back," Gray yelled back at her, "She's my nakama. I can't leave her in the clutches of that veiled wizard!"

"Stop it!" Juvia used both her palms to block away Gray's yells. The water level rose dangerously at waist level. Juvia was producing far too much water from her power and it was getting too strong. Gray pondered on whether he should freeze the water into ice and then try to recover her memories or just continue to shout at her like this.

He went with the former. Soon, the water around their waists froze into ice, occurring in super slow motion. Juvia couldn't believe all the water she had generated had turned into ice. She felt light rather than heavy, like she had been friends with the ice for a very long time. She wondered why she could feel warmth even though it was cold.

Juvia eyed the ice mage in front of her. She couldn't remember anything at all, all she knows is that, the woman had ordered her to kill this man and then her job will be done.

Gray couldn't fathom why he was starting to go all soft on Juvia. She used to be just a guild member that has a one-sided crush on him. So why does he have a weird feeling in his chest that tells him otherwise? This time, Gray wants to remind her what the both of them had been through altogether. He wants to tell her about the crush she had harboured for him all this while, and how she'd baked all those bento lunch boxes for him – only to be eaten by Erza and Natsu after that – and how she and her guild mates had been through thick and thin ever since she had joined Fairytail.

It's a waste that Juvia couldn't even remember what she used to call him (Gray-sama). He felt this heavy weight in his heart that makes him wonder if she really had absolutely zero memories about him. He felt guilty about not appreciating her when she had loved him.

Gray gave the water mage another intense stare towards her direction. He had so many things to remind her of, and he wanted to give himself time to think while Juvia was still struggling to break the ice and free herself.

"You call me 'Gray-sama' all the time. You make lunch boxes for me and fought for me even when I treated you like dirt," Gray bit his lip and tried to steady himself. Juvia stood still and had begun to point her attention towards the ice mage. Whether she was really listening or not, Gray didn't know, but the ice mage continued to speak anyway, "I know that I haven't given you the love that you really deserved, but I always questioned myself on whether I had feelings for you. I always do, during the time Lyon swept you away and when Erza questioned me about my stupidity," Gray trembled as he said this, "but you were always here for me and I think I-I am starting to really like you too."

Juvia could feel it, all of a sudden. That spur of the moment when her heart starts to beat rapidly. She was blushing out of the blue and the most bizarre thing is, she realised that this isn't a first for her.

A number of flashes entered her mind. She could see pictures of a certain raven-haired boy in her older memories. Her memories, they are all slowly returning. She felt the ice returning back into its liquid state. The amount of memories that were slowly returning was making her mind dizzy.

She saw Gray standing in front of her. She realised that she had missed him too much, right after the whole dark memory spell. She hoped Gray hadn't said all that just so that her memories would return, because it had moved her heart so much. She even felt that she had fallen in love with him all over again.

Juvia smiled at the ice mage before her body started to float, just like how she felt the strings tied around every inch of her body and is carrying her up into the air by balloons. She felt the energy drain from her as she tilted her head upwards. The water mage could also feel some tears in her eyes and she started weeping once her body hit the surface of the water, but a pair of strong arms caught her before she could fall.

Gray rushed to the water mage when he saw that her body was starting to waver. It was difficult to run when the water is waist-deep. However, he still caught her in time by the waist. Juvia dug her fingers into his shirt and started sobbing softly.

"Shh…" Gray whispered into her ears as soon as he pulled her body closer to him. His neck rested on her blue-head as she wept on the fabric of his shirt.

The ice mage stroked the water mage's hair gently and tried to soothe her several times so as to lull her to sleep.

Gray Fullbuster was certain the veiled woman would not be around here for another few hours. Juvia Loxar had laid her blue-head on his lap. Her eyes were tightly shut. She was smiling angelically, deeply immersed inside her dreams and trapped in serenity.

**Author's Note: Omg, please tell me what you think! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I know that there has been a lack of planning and some plot holes. It's a little challenging to continue a story that has been written in 2011... So, I am deeply sorry for all the plot holes. You can ask me questions in the reviews (for any unexplained situations in the story) I will gladly PM you back. Thank you for all the favourites, reviews and follows. I really appreciate them :D **

**[For those who are curious, chapters 1-7 were from 2011, while the rest are written in 2014. :D] **

**Chapter 12. **

Natsu shuffled towards the door. He turned the knob once, but it was blocked by something. However, his sense of smell tells him otherwise. It might be a rune or a body. But, the dragon slayer could sense the presence of another human. Two bodies in fact, were leaning against the door. Natsu pushed the door roughly once again only to be greeted by a certain ice mage, who was rubbing his head irritably along with an unconscious – or maybe sleeping – water mage.

"Watch it, flame brain," Gray spat in anger, careful not to wake the water mage who was still soundly asleep on his lap, "It's three o'clock in the morning, why the hell are you up at this hour?"

"Are you kidding?" Natsu retorted back at Gray, "I could ask you the same!"

"Got a problem with me, droopy eyes?"

"You're the problem, squinty eyes!"

The two mages stopped fighting when a small sigh escaped from Juvia's lips. She was still sleeping, but any more redundant noises emitting from their mouths may guarantee that the water mage could awake at any second. Gray didn't want to exhaust her after the fight from a few hours ago.

"Would you allow me to carry her in and then we will talk out here?" Gray shot Natsu a look before glancing down at the carpet to see the rune – that was blocking the entrance – had vanished.

Gray held Juvia in his arms, bridal style and headed into the room without a word. After the ice mage had tucked the blue-haired into bed next to a sleeping Lucy, he quickly slipped out of the room before the two female mages wake up.

Natsu wasn't able to keep his mouth shut as soon as he met Gray's eyes. So many questions were forming in his brain like flowing traffic. It was odd that Gray and Juvia were right here when they, Natsu and Lucy, haven't even completed their mission. Nevertheless, the dragon slayer couldn't help but narrow his eyes skeptically at the raven-haired.

"Look, Charles told Juvia that she had a premonition of you guys being in danger during this so called three million jewel quest," Gray folded his arms quickly, "if you think that I'm here just to rescue your lousy ass, then you thought wrong."

Natsu's face grew bright red, "Lousy ass? Watch what you say to me, you half-naked Eskimo!"

"I don't want to hear you calling me that when you were sharing a bed with Lucy for the past four days!" Gray butted his face at Natsu's and the both were bickering exceptionally loudly along the quiet hallways. They were fighting as usual, calling each other names. Natsu couldn't help it, since Gray had pointed out that tiny fact about the dragon slayer sleeping on the same bed as the celestial mage ever since they started the mission.

"You are the one to talk! Especially when you had Juvia sleeping soundly in your arms!" Natsu just had to do the same.

Bickering like this was ordinary anyway. Natsu and Gray both didn't have the right to point fingers at each other. Since the both of them were also stuck at the same situation. The two had to stop or they would create a huge ruckus that would possibly lure the veiled woman back here.

Gray couldn't sense the presence of the veiled woman anymore. Then again, the dark mage might have thought that Juvia had successfully killed Gray or maybe she had gone back to that lab in the forest. The ice mage wasn't sure. But none of that matter as long as they are all safe for now.

Gray was still wondering about that veiled woman and the time she would return for them. He hopes that both Lucy and Juvia would have enough energy and rest before that dark wizard returns to kill all of them. He knows that Juvia is not in the condition to travel and his mind still seemed a fuzzy after he had confessed to Juvia that he liked her too. He knows that it wasn't an attempt for her memories to return. He actually owed her a confession a long time ago and that fight had gave him the chance to do so.

"Psst!" Natsu narrowed his eyes on Gray, "Why do you look different for some reason?"

"Different? You mean to say 'why are you wearing your clothes?' or is it about other things that has to do with my behaviour?"

"The latter," Natsu shot back in annoyance, "It's like you had successfully cleared those weights from your chest."

Gray rolled his eyes and gave him a face, "You are going to receive an answer you will never understand, you know." Gray knows that Natsu won't understand anything about these romantic issues. It's Natsu for goodness sake! He's just this simple-minded, pink-haired with only 'fighting mode' available in his mind. In contrast to Gray's personality, since the ice mage welcomes everything normal into his head. He also does not plant his focus on just one aspect.

Natsu…well, he is just different. Gray would say that Natsu would not give a damn in the world about all these relationship issues. He may not even know who likes him. Hell, those four days of him sleeping with Lucy on the same bed may not even mean a thing to that flame brain. Gray simply shook his head and excused himself from answering Natsu's question.

"Listen," Natsu lowered his voice all of a sudden, "I think Lucy is a little different from her usual self. I don't know, she says things that doesn't make any sense, you know, like-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Gray puts his palms up to stop the dragon slayer from rambling on, "you said that she is a little different?"

"Yeah." Natsu nodded his head once.

"When have you noticed the change?" Gray asked, quite concerned about the blonde himself, just hopefully, it wouldn't be due to dark magic, "You know, the whole Lucy acting differently thing?"

"Um, maybe a few hours ago?" The dragon slayer replied indecisively. He wasn't sure how he should reply to this when he wasn't really paying very close attention to Lucy's behaviour. Only recently, had he began to think Lucy had changed during this mission.

Gray tried his best not to give himself a face palm, _A few hours ago? _Was this kid joking around with him? How do you even figure out a person was starting to have a change of behaviour in a mere couple of hours? Then again, Natsu was the kind of person who could have misinterpret even with his own sight. He just isn't a good source of information about all types of situations. Gray decided that if he wants to have a serious talk about this, he'd rather approached the blonde himself and ask about her condition.

From the corner of the ice mage's eye, Natsu was still thinking long and hard about something. Gray had a hunch that it has something to do with the celestial mage, but it is only one way to find out.

"What did she say that you found odd?" Gray blurted out lamely, he was a little curious if he must say. Natsu was far too quiet to be joking around about the blonde's change of personality.

"When I woke up in the middle of the night," Natsu began, "She was holding my left hand tightly."

"Sure, I mean the two of you do sleep together…" Gray raised an eyebrow at the dragon slayer's statement, "She might just want to hug a teddy bear or something, but instead she's stuck with you."

"No, no, no," Natsu shook his head roughly and shushed Gray up, "But you know what she kept saying in her sleep?"

The ice mage couldn't believe he was going to listen to this ridiculous story, "What?" He still continued to ask anyway, he had to admit that this was a teeny bit interesting.

The dragon slayer gulped nervously, and tried to reiterate the words that the celestial mage had said in her sleep before, "Let me enjoy this, Natsu. Don't leave me so soon."

The ice mage almost had an asthma attack.

What was Lucy thinking? She actually has romantic feelings towards this incredibly hopeless fire-eater? Gray tried to narrow his eyes at the dragon slayer who seemed like he was under extreme pressure after blurting out his story. Gray shook his head. What did Lucy even saw in Natsu that made her like him? Of course Gray couldn't fathom how Lucy liked Natsu since he couldn't even comprehend **how** Juvia even liked him as more than a friend.

Gray wonders if it was easier if he just told Natsu what Lucy actually meant when she said all that. He decided that he should. That poor fire-eater deserves to know even though he wasn't very bright.

"She likes you, you brainless flame brain," Gray snapped at the dragon slayer, "It's a little hard to believe that anyone would be in the right state of mind to actually fall in love with a fire-head. But congratulations, I was starting to worry that you might live a lonely, sad life with old Happy catering to your needs."

"I know Lucy likes me!" Natsu shot Gray a murderous look, "She always does."

Gray knew that the flame brain would not understand the situation, "You don't understand, do you?" Gray tried to bring the dragon slayer's attention back to his words.

"Not really…" Natsu crossed his arms.

"Well, Lucy likes you in more romantic way now," Gray tried to think about a suitable word for their relationship, "Like how Bisca loves Alzack." That sounds about right. Gray rubbed his chin and continued to wonder about those things.

"Lucy likes me in a different way?"

"Okay, I give up with the explanation," Gray put up his hands in defeat, "But I highly suggest you buy something really nice for her to thank her for putting up with your fried brains."

"Excuse me?" Natsu pitted his head against Gray's and it began to feel like guild times again.

**-x- **

"When I told you to buy something for her, it doesn't mean you have to drag me out here for some absurd shopping spree!" Gray shouted while he dawdled lazily behind Natsu, cursing the rose-haired dragon slayer every single time Natsu peers into a twenty-four hour convenience store to ask for a nice present for a girl. He was lucky that Heron is a pretty bustling place and a great city to do some extreme shopping. The locals weren't lying when they said that the shopping centres here open twenty-four seven daily.

"You know, I can always ask Juvia to come along with me-"

"Wake her and I will freeze you to death!"

"What do you think Lucy would like?" Natsu ignored the curses emitting from the ice mage's mouth. The dragon slayer scratched his head while he shot a question towards the ice mage about the blonde's interest. The ice mage didn't have a clue either. Anyway, since the fire mage is closest to Lucy in the team, it was his responsibility to get a present, fit for Lucy Heartfilia.

He peered into a shoe shop and knocked onto the hard transparent glass door. On the counter sat a great pair of red heels. Something that Lucy would probably love. However, the red heels do not come in Natsu's favour. Fifty thousand jewels! The fire wizard shook his head at the ice mage.

"Oh come on," Gray chided when he finally settled his eyes on another pair of heels, "fifty thousand jewels is nothing." The ice mage was holding onto a pair of sky blue heels that looked equally great.

"Are you buying those for that water girl?" Natsu asked the ice mage and then he scoffed, "That's a first…"

"I need to return the favour," Gray snapped, "She had sacrificed too much." That's right, the two male mages had to return all the favour, even though the girls may owe them more, "Plus, I think it's a first for you rather than me."

Natsu shook his head and scoffed at his direction. The owner had allowed the two to pay it back on a different date. Well, it only applies for Natsu since Gray had more than two hundred thousand residing in his wallet. That was no wonder he said fifty thousand was nothing.

"Wait, is that a ring on your fourth finger?" Gray pressed on and continued being a nosy prick. Natsu wants very much to punch the icy pervert's face, but decided that he should start answering or Gray will spread rumours in the guild. A rumour in the guild about the fire mage and the celestial mage was the last thing in his mind. Not when Mirajane seemed to like playing matchmaker all the time. This is a question he cannot avoid.

"It's for that stupid mission, you cold prick." Natsu meant literally, but Gray shoved his hands in his pockets and put up a face that seemed cocky enough for Natsu to feed him some real fire and wipe that smug look off his face.

"That's what you say," Gray continued to ridicule the dragon slayer, "but fine, if it's for that 'stupid' mission."

_The nerve of him. _Natsu glared at the ice mage in frustration when the both had paid and checked out of the store.

It was already five in the morning and he had to get back before Lucy wakes and freaks out about the Natsu's sudden transformation into a female water mage. The two mages strode hurriedly pass the street stalls and then passed the dango shop – which Natsu and Lucy had both visited the previous day – but as the two went closer, the dango stall was already in a broken mess. The wreckage was very severe and they could feel the huge amount of dark magic used to destroy the entire stall.

Gray recognised the magic immediately. It was the magic the veiled woman had! This is not good. Lucy and Juvia were both in danger. Before Gray could snap up and stare at the dragon slayer, he saw Natsu hurrying past the crowd and had ran towards the palace without hesitancy.

**-x-**

Lucy's eyelids fluttered open when the clock struck six. The celestial mage turned to see that the dragon slayer wasn't there anymore and was surprised to see Juvia sound asleep right next to her. Lucy almost kicked the water mage out of the bed, but seeing how the blue-head smiled as she slept made Lucy change her mind.

The celestial mage rolled out of the bed just in time when the door burst open, revealing a red-faced Natsu and a panting Gray by the door step. It was odd enough that both Gray and Juvia had arrived at Heron as well, seeing that this was both Natsu and Lucy's quest. So, it's weirder that the two male mages had a shopping bag each in their hands.

Lucy stared at the two male mages as they slumped their bodies on the couch. Gray was the first to stand up shortly after. He was still gasping for breath. It seemed like they had a rough time outside. Lucy reckon that it must have got to do with them stealing.

"Wait, before I ask why the both of you decided to turn up and interrupt our three million jewel mission," Lucy turned to them and shot the two male mages a look, "did the both of you steal those stuff?" She pointed to the shopping bags in their hands.

"No!" Natsu shouted in defense, "of course not, do you really think I'm that poor?"

_Yes, he really is. _Gray stared at Natsu blankly.

"So why are the two of you panting like you've just been chased by the police?" Lucy crossed her arms and glared at the two.

Gray stepped up and caught his breath, "We have to leave this place quickly. The entire city is surrounded by dark magic."

"But…but what about the mission?" Lucy shot back, "Master placed his trust on us in looking for the princess."

"I almost lost Juvia because of that princess!" Gray couldn't help but bring it up. He was panicking since he wanted to get his them all out of this filthy place. The veiled woman is too powerful to be trifled with. He didn't want to take any risks. Unfortunately for them, this involved the entire city. If he cannot convince them, he still had to fight for the innocent Heroners who were almost consumed in her Miss Fleur's dark magic.

"It sounds like a pack of fighting to me," Natsu pumped his fists together, "Why don't you guys go and I will see how strong that princess is?"

"She will kill you!" Gray shouted at the fire mage, he couldn't understand Natsu's mind. They are going to face a wizard so dark and fearful, "She cleansed Juvia's memories and used her tried to use her as a killing machine. We faced her before, we know!"

Lucy was already trembling while the two male mages continued to argue about leaving and staying. Lucy knows how dreadful the dark magic is and how terrifying when you become trapped inside. Gray mentioned something about losing memories. No, Lucy shook her head in refusal. She didn't want Natsu to lose his memories and forget all about her. Not after she'd just began to actually like him more than a friend.

"It's alright, I am going." Natsu still insisted.

It was difficult to convince Natsu to stop thinking about fighting the princess. No, scratch that, she meant impossible, actually. Once Natsu sets his mind on fighting, it was almost impossible to drag him out of that mindset.

Lucy had to do something, and even if she isn't fond of fighting any powerful, dark wizard, she still had to do something. That was what she promised Master Makarov before the start of the quest.

"I will go with Natsu," Lucy finds it hard to believe the words she had just blurted out a second ago. She gazed at Juvia sleeping on the bed, and then she turned to look back at the ice mage who still had a startled face on, "Gray, stay here and take good care of Juvia, make sure she's safe."

"Oh, and one more thing," Natsu crossed his arms and frowned at the ice mage, "You mentioned something about a laboratory in the middle of the forest."

"And what about it?"

"Go there and find out what the princess is really doing," Natsu ordered before sneaking a glimpse of Juvia, he had to put himself under the water mage's shoes too, "once Juvia comes round."

Lucy and Natsu made their way out of the room and into the hallways. Lucy had to pull onto Natsu's shirt in order to keep up with his speed. It was too much. They didn't have a clue about Rose's current location. If only they could find Rose and tell her that the princess they have been looking for was already back.

The problem is that, Rose can no longer be trusted. They need help and fast. The only plausible location to find Rose is her 'office'. The one she had took them to during their first day at the palace. Natsu couldn't recall the office, but Lucy did. Lucy's name was taken from 'Lucky' after all. Natsu couldn't help but feel fortunate with her around.

Once the pair had reached the office. It was in a wreck, very much alike the wreckage that befallen the dango stall. The two mages widened their eyes. It was a mess. Worse, there wasn't any sign of Rose. Lucy slapped her forehead, and thought hard.

_Where could she be?_

This is absolutely ridiculous. Lucy didn't want to think that they had been swindled to be part of this dangerous joke. Maybe Gray was right. They have to leave this stupid place because all this didn't make any sense.

Natsu was stepping over the debris to look for clues that might help pinpoint Rose's location. The room reeked of smoke and turpentine. It was like this place was set deliberately on fire, but this is the fire from a mage rather than natural fire. Natsu could feel it.

Natsu could feel a crack under his shoes.

"Uh…Lucy?"

Lucy turned to face the dragon slayer, and her hands immediately flew to her mouth. The celestial spirit mage legs were rooted onto the ground like the grip of a boa constrictor's. The blonde stood appalled as the hidden secrets she had been trying to uncover all this while were beginning to sink in.

In front of her, Natsu was gripping a maroon wig and the magic concealer container in his hands. His eyes were equally shocked as hers.

But before they knew it, the room went dark.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: It's double chapters today for Valentines day! Hooray! I managed to complete the two chapters in one night so please brace yourself as there may be a whole bunch of mistakes hiding in there somewhere. Thank you so much for reading and making my experience in this site a very pleasant one. Please review and tell me what you think as well :D Love ya x3**

**Chapter 13.**

Lucy could feel her body being strapped onto a hard chair. Her sight was still blurry for some reason. She couldn't really remember anything, but her mind was a little fuzzy and that maybe her head had hit something hard. The lights around the unknown room were dimly lit but still bright enough to be able to see her hands.

Lucy tried to scratch her eyes, but her hands were already cuffed by something cold and metallic. That was when she started to panic. She slumped her head forward in defeat only to collide on someone else's instead. She turned her head only to see the pink haired dragon slayer right next to her, probably unconscious. Lucy was a little pink after thinking that, but she tried her best to get Natsu to wake up. Fortunately, They were chained side by side next to each other. Her task should be easy.

"Psst," Lucy used her tied hands to poke Natsu's, but his head just slumped onto her shoulders instead. Okay, maybe this might be a little difficult, "Natsu, wake up!"

Natsu smiled in his sleep – or unconscious state or whatever – Lucy narrowed her eyes as he did that. Hmm…must be another one of his 'Lisanna' dreams. A jealous nerve shot through Lucy's veins. Sometimes, she wondered why she even started to develop romantic feelings towards this infuriating dragon slayer in the first place.

Natsu jolted awake all of a sudden, but Lucy couldn't keep a straight face on. She wanted to tell Natsu normally that they were strapped onto a hard cushioned chair and the both of them are in deep trouble. But instead, poor Natsu got:

"Wow, you got out of your dream really quick!" Lucy shot him a look, nothing too rude, she hopes. Just that her 'Jealous Lucy mode' would overcome her cheery personality every now and then (actually, only when Lisanna's name is mentioned by Natsu), and unfortunately, it always works, "Did Lisanna tried to drown you in the freezer?"

"What?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at Lucy, but ignored her question once he realised that they were both strapped and chained onto some weird chair, "Where are we, Luce?"

"I don't know," Lucy kept her irritated look on, but she realised that she shouldn't take it out on Natsu. It just made her heart twist and turn into knots when she takes her mood swings out on him, "Look, I am sorry for whatever I said just now. It was just mean and cruel…and…rude." Her eyes softened as she gave the dragon slayer an apologetic look.

"It's alright," Natsu shrugged nonchalantly, "You're always like this anyway."

"Excuse me?!" Lucy gritted her teeth and blinked her eyes rapidly while she tried to digest the fact that Natsu had so rudely-

"Oh, good morning." A voice so familiar interrupted the train of Lucy's mental thoughts that seemed to be burning right at the dragon slayer's face.

A fair-headed woman had walked in. A veil was also suspiciously covering half of her face. Her voice, of course hadn't changed a bit, she sounded the same ever since they saw her at Heron port.

An old woman's cries could be heard from another room, like the screams of a person being electrocuted by an insanely powerful voltage, as in they were all dancing in her veins, refusing to get out. Either way, Lucy was certain that electricity might be the cause of this. The static could be felt from all the way here.

Lucy wouldn't be surprised if the screams died down soon and that the person would be found later on the floor, dead and burnt into ashes.

"What do you want, Rose?" Lucy spat at the veiled woman, "Is this your idea of a dirty trick?"

Rose certainly cackled and smirked evilly at the two mages, "Rose, Rose…"

"Or should I say, _Miss Fleur_?" Lucy shot back at her, recalling the name Gray said before, "I should've guessed that you were the princess all along!" Lucy bit her lip as the expression on Natsu's face gradually faded from a confused look into a frown. The answer was in front of them all along. However, as Lucy tried to sense the power accumulated in the room. It shows that the Miss Fleur no longer has power stored in her body. So where did her source of power come from? Lucy tried to think about that. No, it couldn't be…

"No one ever calls me that," Miss Fleur shouted, her veil sliding away from her face. Lucy tried to figure it out, but she needs to gather more clues, "Call me Princess Roselianna Fleur, it sounds nicer don't you think?" She flashed another devilish smile towards their direction.

Miss Fleur shouted at someone from across the room. Lucy had only figured out two things. One, Miss Fleur had worn a maroon wig and disguised herself as 'Rose'. Two, during her disguise as 'Rose', she had used the magic concealer to conceal the burnt marks from her face. Why not, when the concealer was powerful enough to erase their guild marks for more than three days? Lucy is hungry for more details.

Miss Fleur was dragging a body as soon as she entered the room again. Her eyes were set on the blonde mage now. But what the blonde mage was staring at, was the dead and lifeless body of the dango granny around Miss Fleur's arms.

"That old lady!" Natsu shouted when he spotted the frail and wrinkled body around the dark mage's clutches, "What have you done to her?" His fangs were about to show and Natsu's fire was already starting to emit out from his body. Lucy winced as she could feel the prickly heat smoldering against her right arm.

"Get a grip, Natsu!" Lucy tried to calm the dragon slayer down, but her words were drowned by the evil laughter created by none other than Miss Fleur. Lucy could suddenly sense a huge amount of dark magic in the dark mage's body for some reason.

"What have I done to her?" Miss Fleur repeated Natsu's question and shot him a murderous glare. She threw the limp old woman on the floor before she explains, "I've just eaten my fill." She wiped her mouth with her sleeve before rubbing her tummy softly.

The two mages were stunned by the pure evilness in Miss Fleur's character. What did that old woman even do to her? Lucy wanted to scream at her and tell her that this was much too sadistic. She wished she could bury herself in Natsu's chest, but with the way they were strapped tightly onto the chairs, it was no use.

Miss Fleur walked by, grinning lightly at the blonde mage and then stroking her cheeks with her sharp claws. Lucy squirmed under her touch, disgusted at the thought of dark magic on her skin. She wanted to run and get out of this place. She didn't even know what this place was. The lights were too dim here. They were also unable to struggle themselves free.

Lucy could feel Natsu's strapped hand wriggling out of the cold metal chain and enclosing hers. Lucy gave the dragon slayer a sad look. So, this is the end for the both of them, isn't it? The celestial mage wonders. She had so many things to say to her best friend and she must definitely thank him for taking her to Fairy tail.

"You, blondie, will be my lunch…" Miss Fleur, who was standing at the far end of the room, pointed a gnarled nail at the celestial mage. Miss Fleur had started engulfing the blonde in dark magic, as a shadowed hand made their way up Lucy's body, hooking themselves around her neck, "Hold on tight…"

_No way! _Lucy thought, _She's going to make us be her magic vessels! That explains the source of her power. The tremendous powers that were used to erase Juvia's memories were all taken from that old lady all along._

"Don't touch her!" Natsu yelled defensively at the dark mage, "if you don't want to turn to dust, you'd better leave her alone."

Lucy snapped her head up and turned to Natsu, a tear almost escaping her left eye. Are they tears of sadness? Or are they tears of joy, perhaps? Lucy did not know. All she knows is that she didn't want to be apart from him now. She gripped his hand tightly before Miss Fleur smirked at them.

"Ah, so you are defending your wife now, aren't you?" Miss Fleur rubbed her chin, "Well, I could use a little bit of drama, and at least I'm not as sadistic now, am I?" She crossed her arms as she walked out of the room, "While I start the machine, you'd better plan your last words."

"Man, I miss Happy." Natsu tilted his head backwards as soon as Miss. Fleur leaves the room.

"Natsu…" The room went dead quiet as soon as the blonde mage began to speak, "I don't know where to start…"

"Why not?" Natsu turned his head and looked straight into the blonde's eyes so that their faces are only inches apart, "You usually have so many things to say."

The blonde mage stared at her rose-haired partner. She bit her lip hard and blood started to leak out. Lucy had to do it, so as to stop herself from bursting into tears. Millions of images flashed into her mind, all consisting of her current family, Fairy Tail, her previous family in the Heartfilia residence and lastly, her future family that she had thought of. Though she wished that Natsu would probably make it happen. However, since Natsu was already in love with Lisanna, he won't be able to do it. The scene at the church replayed again in Lucy's mind again, when Natsu slid the ring on her finger and how they said 'I do.' to each other. It was perfect. The marriage was what she had always dreamt of, since it involves her getting married to the person she's very comfortable and contented with.

Lucy wanted to know something, if he liked Lisanna, fine. She won't ask, but it didn't stop her from asking what she really wanted to ask anyway.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"If our marriage at the chapel was real," Lucy smiled weakly, "and the pastor had finished reading the vows, what would you say?"

Natsu continued staring at her though, it was unlike Natsu's character to keep staring for a long time. Instead of feeling uncomfortable, Lucy felt as though he was really there for her. She liked it, but too bad it has to end.

"What do you mean?" Natsu raised an eyebrow at her weird question.

Lucy looked lost for a second, "I-I mean…uh…when he asked y-you 'would you take her as your lawfully w-wedded…uh…" Lucy sighed softly and gave up, she knew Natsu won't be able to answer the question anyway, "Never mind."

"I do."

"W-what?" Lucy looked flushed for a second. Her entire heart seemed to have melted though. She actually felt it melt literally, like it had stopped pumping blood and the blood just starts rushing to her face.

"I mean, I would say 'I do.'" Natsu replied, "If the pastor had asked me that question."

Lucy felt satisfied with the answer. The blush from her cheeks hadn't died down. She was happy that Natsu would still consider her as a wife.

"How I wished it was real." Lucy whispered to no one in particular, she too wants to confess how she feels about him as well. She just couldn't get the damn words out of her mouth.

"I had a really good dream just now," Natsu began to speak.

Oh no. Lucy didn't want to cry for her stupid unrequited love, she steadied her breathing even though the pain in her heart is stinging.

"Do you remember the cherry blossom festival?" Natsu tilted his head so as he is facing Lucy.

Lucy couldn't keep her mind straight, but she nodded anyway. It was one of the best memories, the one that she had preserved in her heart. She was going to bring all her cherished memories along with her, even until death.

Natsu continued to speak, describing his dream detail by detail. "We were all underneath the tree together and-"

Lucy's eyes snap to the dragon slayer, "We?"

The dragon slayer nodded, "Me, you, Happy and there's one more girl."

_Oh, girl. _Lucy tried to choke back a lump in her throat.

"Yeah, she had the same pretty eyes as you. She's probably around four to five years old and she had hair like yours. Only that her hair is pink like mine," Natsu smiled as he recalled the scene from his dream, "The best dream I've ever had." He sounded very sincere.

Lucy could feel another lump. But this lump was different, and it has got to do with her heart. She could feel it jump and pitter-patter like crazy. She will never forget this feeling. Natsu had a dream about his future family, their family, and Lucy was part of it!

The blonde was just speechless, recovering from all the rushes of blood that had been rushing around in her body for a few times that day already. She had the right to just stare at her pink-haired partner and think about the things he had done for her.

"You know, Lucy," Natsu said, "I won't leave you so soon, and if you want to enjoy all this-"

"Wait," The blood rushed back into Lucy's face, "How do you know all this? Oh my goodness…" She turned her head away from him as soon as the realisation hit her, "This is so humiliating…"

**_Let me enjoy this, Natsu. _**

**_Don't leave me so soon._**

The two went a little quiet after Natsu revealed Lucy's embarrassing secret. They just wanted to enjoy this…for now. Lucy was very relieved that Natsu finally knows that she likes him. Well, yes. It's the one with romantic and 'blushy' feelings.

"Listen," Natsu said in a low voice, snapping Lucy away from her reverie, "I won't let us die. Trust me."

Lucy shut her eyes tightly. She admitted that she actually doubt him a little. Because every single glimpse towards the direction of the old lady's lifeless body on the floor almost brought her close to the brink of tears. How did Miss Fleur become so ruthless?

Miss Fleur entered the room and started walking towards them. Though Natsu and Lucy were strapped side-by-side. He had a hunch that Miss Fleur was going to stop by next to Lucy and carry her off to the room.

"Take me first," Natsu hastily intruded when Miss Fleur was only starting to unlock some chains and put a curse on his partner, "I will go first, please."

"Natsu…" Lucy bit her lip in guilt, "There you go protecting me again…"

"Don't you remember the promise we made on the first day of this mission?" Natsu reminded the blonde mage, ignoring the glare that he was getting from the dark mage who was busy unchaining him.

"The hot springs promise?"

**_'Promise to protect me, Natsu?'_**

**_'Promise.'_**

Lucy smiled at the memory, "Of course I do." She managed to say before a tear had begun to streak down her cheek.

"Shh…don't cry, I'm here." It was a pity Natsu couldn't hug her close to him this time and he had to use his words to comfort her.

"Wasn't that what you said when you comforted me during the first night?" Lucy breathed heavily as she tried to remain strong. She had managed to stop the tears from flowing. She trusted him so much. Yes, he had successfully protected her.

Miss Fleur ignored their conversation and began to make Natsu walk to the next room with a dark shadowed claw around his neck. It was difficult to walk like this, and Natsu had no choice but to endure it for a while.

"Natsu!" Lucy hollered at last before the dragon slayer was out of sight, "Thank you." She mouthed and hopefully he would be able to catch it.


End file.
